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The '''Pakistan Gana Samiti''' ([[Bengali language]] for 'Pakistan People's Association', abbreviated '''PGS''') was a political party in [[Pakistan]].

The PGS was formed by a minority section of the erstwhile [[Indian National Congress]] in [[East Bengal]] at an 'Eastern Pakistan Political Convention' in [[Comilla]] on July 18, 1948. The founders of PGS included [[Kamini Kumar Dutta]] (Member of the [[Constituent Assembly of Pakistan]]), [[Dhirendranath Datta|Dhirendra Nath Dutta]] (Member of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, Member of the [[East Bengal Legislative Assembly]]) and Pravash Chanera Lahiry (Member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly).<ref name=const>DR. KAUSAR PARVEEN, DR. SAMINA AWAN. ''[https://phs.com.pk/index.php/phs/article/download/225/111 ROLE OF PAKISTAN NATIONAL CONGRESS IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN PAKISTAN, 1947-1958]''. J.P.H.S., Vol. LXX, No. 2</ref> Dhirenda Nath Dutta was the founding general secretary of PGS.<ref name=const/> In April 1948 the [[All India Congress Committee]] had declared the Indian National Congress membership restricted to India alone, effectively expelling the Congressmen in Pakistan from the party. The majority wing in Pakistan reluctantly formed a new party, the [[Pakistan National Congress]] (PNC), in August 1948. But the group forming the PGS opposed reviving the Congress party in Pakistan, rather preferring founding a new Pakistani party with a new party.<ref name=const/> Among the attendees at the Comilla convetion there were reportedly members of the [[Pakistan Socialist Party]], the [[Revolutionary Socialist Party (India)|Revolutionary Socialist Party]] and the [[Pakistan Forward Bloc|Forward Bloc]].<ref name=chow>Najma Chowdhury. ''[https://books.google.at/books?id=yvolAAAAMAAJ The Legislative Process in Bangladesh: Politics and Functioning of the East Bengal Legislature, 1947-58]''. University of Dacca, 1980. pp. 121, 164, 208</ref> 

The Comilla convention declared PGS as a party open to all citizens regardless of religion or caste.<ref name=kabir/> The PGS sought to build alliances with the Muslim majority polity in East Bengal, championing Bengali causes in at the Pakistan centre and East Bengal provincial levels.<ref name=kabir/> PGS campaigned for joint electorate in East Bengal.<ref name=kabir/> The party was mainly based in Comilla, with some presence in [[Dacca]].<ref name=chow/> It had a weak party organization.<ref name=chow/>

However there was still some overlap between PGS and PNC, as PGS maintained close relations with some sectors of PNC. For example Dhirendra Nath Dutta simultaneously served as the PGS general secretary as well as being the Deputy Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the Constituent Assembly.<ref name=const/>

PGS contested the [[1954 East Bengal Legislative Assembly election]] under the banner of the Minority United Front, an electoral alliance formed together with the [[Pakistan Socialist Party]] and the [[Abhay Ashram]].<ref name=const/><ref name=chow/><ref name=nair>M.B. Nair. ''[https://books.google.at/books?id=kORtAAAAMAAJ Politics in Bangladesh (A Study of Awami League : 1949-58)]''. Northern Book Centre, New Delhi, 1990. p. 163</ref> The Minority United Front contested 19 seats, in both the Caste Hindu and Scheduled Caste constituencies.<ref name=nair/> There were talks on electoral arrangement between the Minority United Front and PNC, but that did not materialize in any pre-poll pact and the two groups were the main competitors for the Caste Hindu seats.<ref name=const/> There were also attempts to form an alliance between the Minority United Front and the [[Rasaraj Mandal]]-led faction of the [[East Bengal Scheduled Castes Federation]], but in the end the Mandal-led group contested on their own.<ref name=kabir>Muhammad Ghulam Kabir. ''[https://books.google.at/books?id=vQgNAAAAIAAJ Minority Politics in Bangladesh]''. Vikas, 1980. p. 17-18, 43, 87</ref> The Minority United Front won 10 seats in the Assembly.<ref name=const/> After the election the PGS leaders set up the [[United Progressive Party (Pakistan)|United Progressive Party]] (UPP) as a new legislative faction.<ref name=const/><ref name=kabir/> The UPP replaced the PGS.<ref name=gupta>Jyoti Sen Gupta. ''[https://books.google.at/books?id=GHQ9AAAAMAAJ Eclipse of East Pakistan: Chronicles of Events Since Birth of East Pakistan Till October, 1963]''. RENCO, 1963. p. 43</ref> The UPP was joined by some socialist Congressmen, and sections of the Forward Bloc and the Pakistan Socialist Party (led by [[Trailokyanath Chakravarty]]).<ref name=kabir/>

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:History of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Political parties in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1948]]
[[Category:1948 establishments in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1954]]
[[Category:1954 disestablishments in Pakistan]]

Pakistan Gana Samiti - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Creating a new article