Ashoka Mehta

Ashok Mehta (24 October 1911 Bhavnagar–1984) was an Indian freedom fighter and socialist politician. He helped organize the socialist wing of the Indian National Congress, along with Jaya Prakash Narayan, and was heavily involved in the politics and government of the city of Bombay.

Ashok Mehta was born in Bhavnagar on 24 October 1911.

Mehta was active participant during the Quit India movement and was arrested by the British. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment five times.

After India's independence, he helped organize trade unions in Bombay and was one of the founders of INTUC.

He also served as Mayor of Bombay city from 1946 to 1947. Mehta retired from active politics in the early 1950s, and wrote several books on his experiences, on India's freedom struggle, and on the importance of socialist reforms.

Ashoka Mehta was a founder member of Socialist Party and when, in September 1952, the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party and the Socialist Party merged to form the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) in which the major cementing role were played by Ram Manohar Lohia and Mehta, Asoka Mehta became new party's general secretary. He was Praja Socialist Party's president during 1959-1963.

He was a founding member of the first Governing Body of National Council of Applied Economic Research in New Delhi, India’s first independent economic policy institute, established in 1956. In 1963, he served as deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.

He joined Indian National Congress in 1964, after his expulsion from Praja Socialist Party. After Congress split in 1969 and the faction Congress (I) was led by Indira Gandhi, Mehta was part of the Congress (O) faction.

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