His political thought and concern found genesis in the socialist movement and ideology. Gandhi had been a deep influence on his ideas and personality. He was an erudite leader. He edited an important journal of the socialist movement, "Sangharsh", which was initially brought out by his political guru Acharya Narendra Dev. He edited another journal Young Indian in Hindi as well as in English. In the 19 months of his imprisonment during the Emergency he wrote a diary, published in two parts under the title "Meri Jail Diary".