The
Communist Party of India (
CPI) is a national
political partyA political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925. But the
Communist Party of India (Marxist)The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...
, which separated from the CPI, claims that the party was founded in 1920.
Communism during the colonial period
The Communist Party of India was founded in
TashkentTashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
, Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on October 17, 1920, soon after the Second Congress of the Communist International. The founding members of the party were M.N. Roy, Evelyn Trent Roy (Roy's wife),
Abani MukherjiAbaninath Mukherji was an Indian revolutionary and co-founder of the Communist Party of India. His name was often spelt Abani Mukherjee.-Early life:...
, Rosa Fitingof (Abani's wife), Mohammad Ali (Ahmed Hasan), Mohammad Shafiq Siddiqui and M.P.B.T. Acharya.
The CPI began efforts to build a party organisation inside India. Roy made contacts with Anushilan and
JugantarJugantar or Yugantar was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence.This association, like Anushilan Samiti started in the guise of suburban fitness club. Several Jugantar members were arrested, hanged, or deported for life to the Cellular Jail in...
groups in
BengalBengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
. Small communist groups were formed in Bengal (led by
Muzaffar AhmedMuzaffar Ahmed was a noted Bengali politician, journalist and communist activist, popularly known as "Kakababu".-Background:...
), Bombay (led by S.A. Dange), Madras (led by
Singaravelu Chettiar-Ma.Singaravelar :He was one of the early leftist thinkers of India in 20th century. He was an advocate by profession and spent his earlier days for the propagation of Buddhism. Being contemporary of freedom fighters, VOC and Balagangadhar Thilak. He was actively participated in railway workers...
),
United ProvincesThe United Provinces of British India, more commonly known as the United Provinces, was a province of British India, which came into existence on 3 January 1921 as a result of the renaming of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It corresponded approximately to the combined regions of the...
(led by
Shaukat UsmaniShaukat Usmani was an early Indian communist, who was born to artstic USTA family of Bikaner and a member of the émigré Communist Party of India, established in Tashkent in 1920, and a founding member of the Communist Party of India when it was formed in Kanpur in 1925...
) and
PunjabPunjab was a province of British India, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British rule. With the end of British rule in 1947 the province was split between West Punjab, which went to Pakistan, and East Punjab, which went to India...
(led by
Ghulam HussainGhulam Hussain was the founder of the Atba-i-Malak Badra branch of Mustaali Ismaili Shi'a Islam....
). However, only Usmani became a CPI party member.
During the 1920s and beginning of 1930s the party was badly organized, and in practice there were several communist groups working with limited national coordination. The British colonial authorities had banned all communist activity, which made the task of building a united party very difficult. Between 1921 and 1924 there were four conspiracy trials against the communist movement; First Peshawar Conspiracy Case, Second Peshawar Conspiracy Case, Moscow Conspiracy Case and the Cawnpore Bolshevik Conspiracy Case. In the first three cases, Russian-trained muhajir communists were put on trial. However, the Cawnpore trial had more political impact. On March 17, 1924, M.N. Roy, S.A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, Nalini Gupta, Shaukat Usmani, Singaravelu Chettiar, Ghulam Hussain and R.C. Sharma were charged, in Cawnpore (now spelt
Kanpur) Bolshevik Conspiracy case. The specific charge was that they as communists were seeking "to deprive the King Emperor of his sovereignty of British India, by complete separation of India from imperialistic Britain by a violent revolution." Pages of newspapers daily splashed sensational communist plans and people for the first time learned , on such a large scale, about communism and its doctrines and the aims of the Communist International in India.
Singaravelu Chettiar was released on account of illness. M.N. Roy was in Germany and R.C. Sharma in French Pondicherry, and therefore could not be arrested. Ghulam Hussain confessed that he had received money from the Russians in
KabulKabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
and was pardoned. Muzaffar Ahmed, Nalini Gupta, Shaukat Usmani and Dange were sentenced for various terms of imprisonment. This case was responsible for actively introducing communism to a larger Indian audience. Dange was released from prison in 1927.
On December 25, 1925 a communist conference was organized in
Kanpur. Colonial authorities estimated that 500 persons took part in the conference. The conference was convened by a man called Satyabhakta. At the conference Satyabhakta argued for a 'national communism' and against subordination under Comintern. Being outvoted by the other delegates, Satyabhakta left both the conference venue in protest. The conference adopted the name 'Communist Party of India'. Groups such as
Labour Kisan Party of HindustanLabour Kisan Party of Hindustan was a political party in India. The party was founded by Singaravelu Chettiar on May 1, 1923 in Madras. This was the first May Day celebration in India. This was also the first time the red flag was used in India....
(LKPH) dissolved into the unified CPI. The émigré CPI, which probably had little organic character anyway, was effectively substituted by the organization now operating inside India.
Soon after the 1926 conference of the
Workers and Peasants PartyThe Workers and Peasants Party was a political party in India, which worked inside the Indian National Congress 1925-1929. It became an important front organisation for the Communist Party of India and an influential force in the Bombay labour movement...
of
BengalBengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, the underground CPI directed its members to join the provincial Workers and Peasants Parties. All open communist activities were carried out through Workers and Peasants Parties.
The sixth congress of the Communist International met in 1928. In 1927 the
KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
had turned on the Chinese communists, which led to a review of the policy on forming alliances with the national bourgeoisie in the colonial countries. The Colonial theses of the 6th Comintern congress called upon the Indian communists to combat the 'national-reformist leaders' and to 'unmask the national reformism of the
Indian National CongressThe Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
and oppose all phrases of the Swarajists, Gandhists, etc. about passive resistance'. The congress did however some differentiation between the character of the Chinese Kuomintang and the Indian Swarajist Party, considering the latter as neither a reliable ally nor a direct enemy. The congress called on the Indian communists to utilize the contradictions between the national bourgeoisie and the British imperialists. The congress also denounced the WPP. The Tenth Plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International, July 3, 1929 July 19, 1929, directed the Indian communists to break with WPP. When the communists deserted it, the WPP fell apart.
On March 20, 1929, arrests against WPP, CPI and other labour leaders were made in several parts of India, in what became known as the
Meerut Conspiracy CaseMeerut Conspiracy Case was a controversial court case, in which several trade unionists, including three Englishmen were arrested for organizing Indian-rail strike, this immediately caught attention back home in England, inspired the 1932 play titled Meerut, by Manchester street theatre group, the...
. The communist leadership was now put behind bars. The trial proceedings were to last for four years.
As of 1934, the main centres of activity of CPI were Bombay, Calcutta and Punjab. The party had also begun extending its activities to Madras. A group of Andhra and Tamil students, amongst them P. Sundarayya, were recruited to the CPI by Amir Hyder Khan.
The party was reorganised in 1933, after the communist leaders from the Meerut trials were released. A central committee of the party was set up. In 1934 the party was accepted as the Indian section of the Communist International.
When Indian leftwing elements formed the
Congress Socialist PartyThe Congress Socialist Party was founded in 1934 as a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress. Its members rejected what they saw as the anti-rational mysticism of Mohandas Gandhi as well as the sectarian attitude of the Communist Party of India towards the Congress Party...
in 1934, the CPI branded it as
Social FascistSocial fascism was a theory supported by the Communist International during the early 1930s, which believed that social democracy was a variant of fascism because, in addition to a shared corporatist economic model, it stood in the way of a complete and final transition to communism...
.
In connection with the change of policy of the
CominternThe Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
toward
Popular FrontA popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists. Being very broad, they can sometimes include centrist and liberal forces as well as socialist and communist groups...
politics, the Indian communists changed their relation to the
Indian National CongressThe Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
. The communists joined the Congress Socialist Party, which worked as the left wing of Congress. Through joining CSP the CPI accepted the CSP demand for Constituent Assembly, which it had denounced two years before. The CPI however analysed that the demand for Constituent Assembly would not be a substitute for
sovietsSoviet was a name used for several Russian political organizations. Examples include the Czar's Council of Ministers, which was called the “Soviet of Ministers”; a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia; and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union....
.
In July 1937, the first
Keralaor Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
unit of CPI was founded at a clandestine meeting in Calicut. Five persons were present at the meeting, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, Krishna Pillai, N.C. Sekhar,
K. DamodaranK. Damodaran -Was one of the founder leaders of the Communist Party in Kerala, India, Marxist theoritician and writer....
and S.V. Ghate. The first four were members of the CSP in Kerala. The latter, Ghate, was a CPI Central Committee member, who had arrived from Madras. Contacts between the CSP in Kerala and the CPI had begun in 1935, when P. Sundarayya (CC member of CPI, based in Madras at the time) met with EMS and Krishna Pillai. Sundarayya and Ghate visited Kerala at several times and met with the CSP leaders there. The contacts were facilitated through the national meetings of the Congress, CSP and
All India Kisan SabhaAll India Kisan Sabha , was the name of the peasants front of the undivided Communist Party of India , an important peasant movement formed by Swami Sahajanand Saraswati in 1936, and which later split into two organizations, by the same name.-History:...
.
In 1936-1937, the cooperation between socialists and communists reached its peak. At the 2nd congress of the CSP, held in
Meerut in January 1936, a thesis was adopted which declared that there was a need to build 'a united Indian Socialist Party based on
Marxism-LeninismMarxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
'. At the 3rd CSP congress, held in
FaizpurFaizpur is a city and a municipal council in Jalgaon district in the state of Maharashtra, India.- Geography :Faizpur is located at . It has an average elevation of 226 metres .-History:...
, several communists were included into the CSP National Executive Committee.
In Kerala communists won control over CSP, and for a brief period controlled Congress there.
Two communists, E.M.S. Namboodiripad and Z.A. Ahmed, became All India joint secretaries of CSP. The CPI also had two other members inside the CSP executive.
On the occasion of the 1940 Ramgarh Congress Conference CPI released a declaration called
Proletarian Path, which sought to utilize the weakened state of the British Empire in the time of war and gave a call for
general strikeA general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
, no-tax, no-rent policies and mobilising for an armed revolution uprising. The National Executive of the CSP assembled at
RamgarhRamgarh Raj was a major Zamindari in the era of the British Raj.The areas that would later comprise the Ramgarh Raj had initially belonged to the Raja of Chhota Nagpur. Around the year AD 1368, the area witnessed unrest for reasons not now known. The Raja deputed two brothers by name Baghdeo and...
took a decision that all communists were expelled from CSP.
In July 1942, the CPI was legalised. Communists strengthened their control over the All India Trade Union Congress. At the same time, communists were politically cornered for their opposition to the
Quit India MovementThe Quit India Movement , or the August Movement was a civil disobedience movement launched in India in August 1942 in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for immediate independence. Gandhi hoped to bring the British government to the negotiating table...
.
CPI contested the Provincial Legislative Assembly elections of 1946 of its own. It had candidates in 108 out of 1585 seats. It won in eight seats. In total the CPI vote counted 666 723, which should be seen with the backdrop that 86% of the adult population of India lacked voting rights. The party had contested three seats in
BengalBengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, and won all of them. One CPI candidate, Somanth Lahiri, was elected to the Constituent Assembly.
In 1946 the party launched the
Tebhaga movementThe Tebhaga movement was a militant campaign initiated in Bengal by the Kisan Sabha in 1946. At that time share-cropping peasants had to give half of their harvest to the owners of the land...
in
BengalBengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, a militant campaign against feudalism.
Communists after independence
During the period around and directly following Independence in 1947, the internal situation in the party was chaotic. The party shifted rapidly between left-wing and right-wing positions. In February, 1948, at the 2nd Party Congress in Calcutta, B.T. Ranadive (BTR) was elected General Secretary of the party. The conference adopted the 'Programme of Democratic Revolution'. This programme included the first mention of struggle against
casteCaste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
injustice in a CPI document.
In several areas the party led armed struggles against a series of local monarchs that were reluctant to give up their power. Such insurgencies took place in
TripuraTripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...
,
TelanganaTelangana is a region in the present state of Andhra Pradesh, India and formerly was part of Hyderabad state which was ruled by Nizam. It is bordered with the states of Maharashtra on the north and north-west, Karnataka on the west, Chattisgarh on the north-east and Orissa to the east...
and
Keralaor Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
. The most important rebellion took place in
TelanganaTelangana is a region in the present state of Andhra Pradesh, India and formerly was part of Hyderabad state which was ruled by Nizam. It is bordered with the states of Maharashtra on the north and north-west, Karnataka on the west, Chattisgarh on the north-east and Orissa to the east...
, against the
NizamNizam-ul-Mulk of Hyderabad popularly known as Nizams of Hyderabad was a former monarchy of the Hyderabad State, now in the states of Andhra Pradesh , Karnataka , and Maharashtra in India...
of
Hyderabad-After Indian independence :When India gained independence in 1947 and Pakistan came into existence in 1947, the British left the local rulers of the princely states the choice of whether to join one of the new dominions or to remain independent...
. The Communists built up a people's army and militia and controlled an area with a population of three million. The rebellion was brutally crushed and the party abandoned the policy of armed struggle. BTR was deposed and denounced as a 'left adventurist'.
In
ManipurManipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
, the party became a force to reckon with through the agrarian struggles led by Jananeta Irawat Singh. Singh had joined CPI in 1946. At the 1951 congress of the party, 'People's Democracy' was substituted by 'National Democracy' as the main slogan of the party.
In early 1950s young communist leadership was uniting textile workers, bank employees and unorganized sector workers to ensure mass support in north India. National leaders like S A Dange,
Chandra Rajeswara RaoChandra Rajeshwara Rao is an Indian freedom fighter . He was one of the top leaders of the Telengana Rebellion . He also worked as Communist Party of India general secretary for 28 years until he gave up the job in 1992 for health reasons..-Family:His son and grandson, Chandra Chandrasekhar and...
and P K Vasudevan Nair were encouraging them and supporting the idea despite their differences on the execution of these plans. Firebrand Communist leaders like Homi F Dazi,
Guru Radha KishanGuru Radha Kishan was born in the year 1925 on Krishna Janmashtami in Bid village of district Harda of Madhya Pradesh in a Brahmin family of farmers. He has to experience the hardships of the life very early as his father was expired while he was a kid...
, H L Parwana,
Sarjoo PandeySarjoo Pandey was an Indian politician, Indian independence activist and a leader of the Communist Party of India.-Life:...
, Darshan Singh Canadian and Avtaar Singh Malhotra were emerging between the masses and the working class in particular. This was the first leadership of communists that was very close to the masses and people consider them champions of the cause of the workers and the poor. In Delhi, May Day ( majdoor diwas or
mai diwas) was organized at Chandni Chowk Ghantaghar in such a manner that demonstrates the unity between all the factions of working classes and ignite the passion for communist movement in the northern part of India.
Communist movement or CPI in particular emerged as a front runner after
Guru Radha KishanGuru Radha Kishan was born in the year 1925 on Krishna Janmashtami in Bid village of district Harda of Madhya Pradesh in a Brahmin family of farmers. He has to experience the hardships of the life very early as his father was expired while he was a kid...
undertook a fast unto death for 24 days to promote the cause of textile workers in Delhi. Till than it was a public misconception that communists are the revolutionaries with arms in their hands and workers and their families were afraid to get associated with the communists but this act mobilize general public in the favor communist movement as a whole. During this period people with their families use to visit this 'dharna sthal' to encourage CPI cadre.
This model of selflessness for the society benefits worked for CPI far more than expected. This trend was followed by almost all other state units of party in hindi heartland. Communist Party related trade union AITUC became a prominent force to unite the workers in textile, municipal and unorganised sectors, the first labour union in unorganised sector was also emerged in the leadership of Comrade
Guru Radha KishanGuru Radha Kishan was born in the year 1925 on Krishna Janmashtami in Bid village of district Harda of Madhya Pradesh in a Brahmin family of farmers. He has to experience the hardships of the life very early as his father was expired while he was a kid...
during this period in Delhi's Sadar Bazaar area. This movement of mass polarisation of workers in the favour of CPI worked effectively in Delhi and paved the way for great success of CPI in the elections in working class dominated areas in Delhi. Comrade Gangadhar Adhikari and E.M.S. Namboodiripad applauded this brigade of dynamic comrades for their selfless approach and organisational capabilities. This brigade of firebrand communists gained more prominence when Telangana Hero
Chandra Rajeswara RaoChandra Rajeshwara Rao is an Indian freedom fighter . He was one of the top leaders of the Telengana Rebellion . He also worked as Communist Party of India general secretary for 28 years until he gave up the job in 1992 for health reasons..-Family:His son and grandson, Chandra Chandrasekhar and...
raised as General Secretary of Communist Party of India.
In the general elections in 1957, the CPI emerged as the largest opposition party. In 1957, the CPI won the state elections in Kerala. This was the first time that an opposition party won control over an Indian state.
E. M. S. NamboodiripadElamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad, , popularly known as EMS, was an Indian Communist leader and the first Chief Minister of Kerala. As the first non-Congress chief minister in independent India, he became the leader of the first democratically elected communist government in the world...
became Chief Minister. At the 1957 international meeting of Communist parties in Moscow, the
Communist Party of ChinaThe Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
directed criticism at the CPI for having formed a ministry in Kerala.
A serious rift within the party surfaced in 1962. One reason was the
Sino-Indian WarThe Sino-Indian War , also known as the Sino-Indian Border Conflict , was a war between China and India that occurred in 1962. A disputed Himalayan border was the main pretext for war, but other issues played a role. There had been a series of violent border incidents after the 1959 Tibetan...
, where a faction of the Indian Communists backed the position of the Indian government, while other sections of the party claimed that it was a conflict between a socialist and a capitalist state, and thus took a pro-Chinese position. There were three factions in the party - "internationalists", "centrists", and "nationalists". "Internationalists", including
B. T. RanadiveBhalchandra Trimbak Ranadive , popularly known as BTR was an Indian communist politician and trade union leader....
, P. Sundarayya,
P. C. JoshiPuran Chand Joshi , one of the early leaders of the communist movement in India. He was the first general secretary of the Communist Party of India from 1935–47.-Early years:...
,
Makineni BasavapunnaiahMakineni Basavapunnaiah BA was an Indian Communist leader who was a member of Politbureau of the Communist Party of India . He was also the editor of the central organ of CPI , People's Democracy magazine...
,
Jyoti BasuJyoti Basu was an Indian politician belonging to the Communist Party of India from West Bengal, India. He served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000, making him the longest-serving Chief Minister of any Indian state. Basu was a member of the CPI Politburo from the time of the...
, and
Harkishan Singh SurjeetHarkishan Singh Surjeet was a communist politician from Punjab, India. He was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India from 1992 to 2005 and was a member of the party's Political Bureau from 1964 to 2008.-Pre-1947 career:Born to a Basi Jat family in Bundala, Jalandhar district,...
, supported the Chinese stand. The "nationalists", including prominent leaders such as S.A. Dange,
A. K. GopalanAyillyath Kuttiari Gopalan , 1 October 1904 to March 22, 1977, popularly known as A. K. Gopalan or AKG, was an Indian communist leader and first leader of opposition of India.- Early life and education :...
backed India. "Centrists" took a neutral view;
Ajoy GhoshAjoy Kumar Ghosh was a prominent leader of the Communist Party of India. In 1934, he was elected to the Central Committee of the CPI and in 1936 he was elected to its Polit Bureau. In 1938, he became the member of the editorial board of the Party's mouthpiece, the National Front...
was the prominent person in the centrist faction. In general, most of Bengal Communist leaders supported China and most others supported India
. Hundreds of CPI leaders, accused of being pro-Chinese, were imprisoned. Some of the nationalists were also imprisoned, as they used to express their opinion only in party forums, and CPI's official stand was pro-China.
Ideological differences lead to the split in the party in 1964 when two different party conferences were held, one of CPI and one of the
Communist Party of India (Marxist)The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...
. There is a common misconception that the rift during Sino-Indian war lead to the 1962 split. In fact, the split was leftists vs rightists, rather than internationalists vs nationalists. The presence of nationalists, and internationalists P. Sundarayya,
Jyoti BasuJyoti Basu was an Indian politician belonging to the Communist Party of India from West Bengal, India. He served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000, making him the longest-serving Chief Minister of any Indian state. Basu was a member of the CPI Politburo from the time of the...
, and
Harkishan Singh SurjeetHarkishan Singh Surjeet was a communist politician from Punjab, India. He was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India from 1992 to 2005 and was a member of the party's Political Bureau from 1964 to 2008.-Pre-1947 career:Born to a Basi Jat family in Bundala, Jalandhar district,...
in the
Communist Party of India (Marxist)The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...
proves this fact.
During the period 1970-77, CPI was allied with the Congress party. In
Keralaor Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, they formed a government together with Congress, with the CPI-leader
C. Achutha MenonChelat Achutha Menon was a senior leader of the Communist Party of India . He was the Chief Minister of Kerala state for two terms. The first term was from 1 November 1969 to 1 August 1970 and the second 4 October 1970 to 25 March 1977. Achutha Menon is widely considered as the best Chief Minister...
as Chief Minister. After the fall of the regime of
Indira GandhiIndira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
, CPI reoriented itself towards cooperation with CPI(M).
In 1986, the CPI's leader in the Punjab and MLA in the Punjabi legislature
Darshan Singh CanadianDarshan Singh Canadian was a Sikh trade union activist and Communist organizer in Canada and India.- Canada :...
was assassinated by Sikh extremists.Then on 19May 1987 Com Deepak Dhawan General secretary of Punjab CPM was murdered. Altogether about 200 communist leaders out of which most were Sikhs were murdered by Sikh terrorists in Punjab.
Present situation
CPI is recognized by the
Election Commission of IndiaThe Election Commission of India is an autonomous, quasi-judiciary constitutional body of India. Its mission is to conduct free and fair elections in India...
as a 'National Party'. To date, CPI happens to be the only national political party from India to have contested all the general elections using the same electoral symbol.
On the national level they supported the
Indian National CongressThe Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
-led
United Progressive AllianceThe United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...
government, but without taking part in it. The party is part of a coalition of leftist and communist parties known in the national media as the
Left FrontThe Left Front is an alliance of Indian leftist parties. After a 34-year reign in West Bengal, the Left Front was swept from power in the 2011 election...
. Upon attaining power in May 2004, the United Progressive Alliance formulated a programme of action known as the
Common Minimum ProgrammeThe Common Minimum Programme is a document outlining the minimum objectives of a coalition government in India. The document has acquired prominence since coalition governments have become the norm in India.-References:...
. The Left bases its support to the UPA on strict adherence to it. Provisions of the CMP mentions to discontinue
disinvestmentDisinvestment, sometimes referred to as divestment, refers to the use of a concerted economic boycott, with specific emphasis on liquidating stock, to pressure a government, industry, or company towards a change in policy, or in the case of governments, even regime change...
, massive social sector outlays and an independent foreign policy.
On July 8, 2008,
Prakash KaratPrakash Karat , born on February 7, 1948 in Letpadan, Burma is a communist politician in India and the current General Secretary of the Communist Party of India since 2005.-Education and early career:...
announced that left front is withdrawing its support over the decision by the government to go ahead on the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act. The left front had been a staunch advocate of not proceeding with this deal citing national interests.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200807081550.htm
In
West BengalWest Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
it participates in the
Left FrontThe Left Front is an alliance of Indian leftist parties. After a 34-year reign in West Bengal, the Left Front was swept from power in the 2011 election...
. It also participates in the state government in
ManipurManipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
. In Kerala the party is part of Left Democratic Front. In
TripuraTripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...
the party is a partner of the governing Left Front, having a minister. In
Tamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
it is part of the
Progressive Democratic AllianceThe Progressive Democratic Alliance was a centrist political party in British Columbia, Canada founded by Gordon Wilson, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Powell River—Sunshine Coast....
. It is involved in the Left Democratic Front in Maharashtra
The current general secretary of CPI is
Ardhendu Bhushan BardhanArdhendu Bhushan Bardhan or A. B. Bardhan is the general secretary of the Communist Party of India , one of the oldest political parties in India. He is from Nagpur and contested many elections from there winning only one - the 1957 for the Maharashtra State Assembly as an Independent candidate. He...
.
The principal mass organizations of the CPI are:
- All India Trade Union Congress
- All India Youth Federation
All India Youth Federation is the youth wing of Communist Party of India. AIYF is a member of World Federation of Democratic Youth. AIYF was started by Balraj Sahni and P.K. Vasudevan Nair, among others, in 1959.The All India Youth Federation came into being in 1959...
- All India Students Federation
The All India Students Federation was the first student union in India level.It was founded by students] on 12 August 1936 with the banner Freedom Peace Progress, with the guidance of Nehru. At that time, it worked for the independence of India. The organisation now works for the betterment of...
- National Federation of Indian Women
National Federation of Indian Women is the women's wing of Communist Party of India. It was established in 1954 by several leaders including Aruna Asaf Ali....
- All India Kisan Sabha
All India Kisan Sabha is the peasant or farmers' wing of the Communist Party of India. The Kisan Sabha movement started in Bihar under the leadership of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, who had formed in 1929 the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha to mobilise peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks...
(peasants organization)
- Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union
Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union is a trade union of agricultural labourers in India. BKMU is politically tied to the Communist Party of India...
(agricultural workers)
- All India State Government Employees Federation (State government employees)
Lok Sabha election tally
| State | No. of candidates 2004 | No. of elected 2004 | No. of candidates 1999 | No. of elected 1999 | Total no. of seats in the state |
Andhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
| 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 42 |
Arunachal PradeshArunachal Pradesh is a state of India, located in the far northeast. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, and shares international borders with Burma in the east, Bhutan in the west, and the People's Republic of China in the north. The majority of the territory is claimed by...
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
AssamAssam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| Bihar | 6 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 40 (2004)/54(1999) |
ChhattisgarhChhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
| 1 | 0 | - | - | 11 (2004) |
GoaGoa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Gujarat | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
HaryanaHaryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Himachal PradeshHimachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
Jammu and KashmirJammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
JharkhandJharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...
| 1 | 1 | - | - | 14 (2004) |
KarnatakaKarnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
Keralaor Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
| 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 20 |
| Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 (2004)/40(1999) |
MaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
| 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 |
ManipurManipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
MeghalayaMeghalaya is a state in north-eastern India. The word "Meghalaya" literally means the Abode of Clouds in Sanskrit and other Indic languages. Meghalaya is a hilly strip in the eastern part of the country about 300 km long and 100 km wide, with a total area of about 8,700 sq mi . The...
| 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Mizoram Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North Eastern India, sharing borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur and with the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Burma. Mizoram became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987. Its capital is Aizawl. Mizoram is located in the...
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
NagalandNagaland is a state in the far north-eastern part of India. It borders the state of Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam to the north, Burma to the east and Manipur to the south. The state capital is Kohima, and the largest city is Dimapur...
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
OrissaOrissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
| 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 21 |
| Punjab | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
RajasthanRājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
| 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 25 |
SikkimSikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Tamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 39 |
TripuraTripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
| 6 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 80 (2004)/85 (1999) |
| Uttaranchal | 0 | 0 | - | - | 5 (2004) |
West BengalWest Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 42 |
| Union Territories |
| Andaman & Nicobar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Chandigarh Chandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city...
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Daman and Diu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
DelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
LakshadweepLakshadweep , formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 km off the coast of the South West Indian state of Kerala...
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pondicherry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total: | 34 | 10 | 54 | 4 | 543 |
State election results
| State | No. of candidates | No. of elected | Total no. of seats in Assembly | Year of Election |
Andhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
| 12 | 6 | 294 | 2004 |
AssamAssam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
| 19 | 1 | 126 | 2001 |
| Bihar | 153 | 5 | 324 | 2000 |
ChhattisgarhChhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
| 18 | 0 | 90 | 2003 |
DelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
| 2 | 0 | 70 | 2003 |
GoaGoa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
| 3 | 0 | 40 | 2002 |
| Gujarat | 1 | 0 | 181 | 2002 |
HaryanaHaryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
| 10 | 0 | 90 | 2000 |
Himachal PradeshHimachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
| 7 | 0 | 68 | 2003 |
Jammu and KashmirJammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
| 5 | 0 | 87 | 2002 |
KarnatakaKarnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
| 5 | 0 | 224 | 2004 |
Keralaor Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
| 22 | 17 | 140 | 2006 |
| Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
| 17 | 0 | 230 | 2003 |
MaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
| 19 | 0 | 288 | 1999 |
ManipurManipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
| 16 | 4 | 60 | 2006 |
MeghalayaMeghalaya is a state in north-eastern India. The word "Meghalaya" literally means the Abode of Clouds in Sanskrit and other Indic languages. Meghalaya is a hilly strip in the eastern part of the country about 300 km long and 100 km wide, with a total area of about 8,700 sq mi . The...
| 3 | 0 | 60 | 2003 |
| Mizoram Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North Eastern India, sharing borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur and with the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Burma. Mizoram became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987. Its capital is Aizawl. Mizoram is located in the...
| 4 | 0 | 40 | 2003 |
OrissaOrissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
| 6 | 1 | 147 | 2004 |
| Pondicherry | 2 | 0 | 30 | 2001 |
| Punjab | 11 | 0 | 117 | 2006 |
RajasthanRājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
| 15 | 0 | 200 | 2003 |
Tamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
| 8 | 6 | 234 | 2006 |
TripuraTripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...
| 2 | 1 | 60 | 2003 |
Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
| 5 | 0 | 402 | 2002 |
| Uttaranchal | 14 | 0 | 70 | 2002 |
West BengalWest Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
| 13 | 8 | 294 | 2006 |
Results from the Election Commission of India website. Results do not deal with partitions of states (Bihar was bifurcated after the 2000 election, creating
JharkhandJharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...
), defections and by-elections during the mandate period.
See also
See also:
List of political parties in India,
Politics of IndiaThe politics of India takes place within the framework of a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of India is head of state and the Prime Minister of India is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President and is independent of the legislature...
,
List of Communist Parties
- Communist Ghadar Party of India
The Communist Ghadar Party of India was founded on December 25, 1980, as a continuation of the Hindustani Ghadar Party - Organisation of Indian Marxist-Leninists Abroad founded in Canada in 1970. The group had established a presence in Punjab during the 1970s. Initially the group identified itself...
- Communist Party of Bangladesh
The Communist Party of Bangladesh is a Marxist-Leninist political party in Bangladesh, founded in 1968 as the Communist Party of East Pakistan.- History :...
- Pandit Karyanand Sharma
Pandit Karyanand Sharma was an eminent nationalist and peasant leader who led movements against zamindars and British.-Biography:Pandit Karyanand Sharma was born in Sahoor village in Monghyr district into a poor tenant Bhumihar Brahmin family. Although he started studying in 1906, he had soon to...
- Indradeep Sinha
Indradeep Sinha was a freedom fighter and veteran communist leader. He was born in a Bhumihar Brahmin family at Shakara village in Siwan District of Bihar, India, in July 1914. He had an academic career and secured a gold medal in post-graduation in Economics from Patna University in 1938. He...
- Indrajit Gupta
Indrajit Gupta was a Communist leader who became Indias Union Minister for Home Affairs in the United Front government from 1996 to 1998...
- Guru Radha Kishan
Guru Radha Kishan was born in the year 1925 on Krishna Janmashtami in Bid village of district Harda of Madhya Pradesh in a Brahmin family of farmers. He has to experience the hardships of the life very early as his father was expired while he was a kid...
- Azhikodan Raghavan
Azhikodan Raghavan was a leader of Communist Party of India /CPI.He was born on July 1, 1919 at South Bazar, Kannur. He had his primary education from the 'Model Primary School' attached to Kannur Govt. Training school.After passing Vth std he was forced to discontinue his formal education...
- Darshan Singh Canadian
Darshan Singh Canadian was a Sikh trade union activist and Communist organizer in Canada and India.- Canada :...
- Chandrashekhar Singh
Chandrashekhar Singh was a member of the Indian National Congress and served as the Chief Minister of Bihar from August 1983 to March 1985. He also held a number of Cabinet Minister positions in the Cabinet of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi....
- Singaravelu Chettiar
-Ma.Singaravelar :He was one of the early leftist thinkers of India in 20th century. He was an advocate by profession and spent his earlier days for the propagation of Buddhism. Being contemporary of freedom fighters, VOC and Balagangadhar Thilak. He was actively participated in railway workers...
- S A Dange
External links