Abstract
The geo-political, socio-economic, cultural and religious conditions of India played an important role in the formation, identity and the growth of the political parties in the Punjab. The process of the gradual constitutional development in India also registered the political movements in the British Punjab. This research paper traces the initial political growth and the role of the revolutionary politics especially focusing on their mutual interests and inner-conflicts, preceding the factional politics based on split behavior and alliances in the Punjab province. The ever-growing communal conflicts in the region, reinforced by rural-urban division, caused an upsurge of many political, social and religious movements in the Punjab. The present study deals with the comparative analysis of the major political organizations and their role in the future political developments in the province. The Punjab politics holds an immense significance with respect to its capable leadership in organizing their separate identities and platforms in order to procure their vested interests using the powerful tools of their influential political ideologies. This research article also provides a deep political insight on the nature and quality invested in the leadership of the Punjab political parties. It further unveils the socio-political and socio-religious atmosphere laced with deeds and misdeeds that hampered the emergence of democratic values and growth of strong political system in this region. However, it is not the study of a single party but a retrospective discourse on the major political parties of the Punjab such as the Punjab Congress, the Punjab Muslim League, the Hindu Mahasabha, the Unionist Party, the Majlis-i-Aahrar-i-Islam, the Majlis-i-Ittehad-i-Millat, the Khaksar Party, the Khalsa Nationalist Party and the Akali Dal etc., along with their intra-party politics influencing the masses in the Punjab under the British Government.