| Communist Party of India | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Party Chairperson | {{{chairman}}} |
| General Secretary | {{{secretary}}} |
| Parliamentary Party Chairperson | {{{ppchairman}}} |
| Leader of Lok Sabha | {{{loksabha_leader}}} |
| Leader of Rajya Sabha | {{{rajyasabha_leader}}} |
| Founded | 1920 |
| Headquarters | Ajoy Bhawan, Kotla Marg, New Delhi - 110002 |
| Alliance | Left Front |
| Seats in Lok Sabha | {{{loksabha_seats}}} |
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | {{{rajyasabha_seats}}} |
| Political Ideology | Marxism |
| Political Position | Fiscal: Marxist Social: Liberal |
| Publications | New Age, Mukti Sangharsh |
| Website | http://www.cpindia.org |
The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party 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), which split-off from the CPI, claims that the party was founded in the USSR in 1920.
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Communism during the colonial period
The Communist Party of India was founded in Tashkent on October 17, 1920, soon after the Second Congress of the Communist International. The founding members of the party were M.N. Roy, Evelina Trench Roy (Roy’s wife), Abani Mukherji, Rosa Fitingof (Abani’s wife), Mohammad Ali (Ahmed Hasan), Mohammad Shafiq Siddiqui and M.P.B.T. Acharya.[1][2]
The CPI began efforts to build a party organisation inside India. Roy made contacts with Anushilan and Jugantar groups in Bengal. Small communist groups were formed in Bengal (led by Muzaffar Ahmed), Bombay (led by S.A. Dange), Madras (led by Singaravelu Chettiar), United Provinces (led by Shaukat Usmani) and Punjab (led by Ghulam Hussain). However, only Usmani became a CPI party member.[3] 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 such a large scale about communism and its doctrines and the aims of the Communist International in India.[4] 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 Kabul 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.[4]. Dange was released from prison in 1925. 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, of whom little is known. Satyabhakta is said to have 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 LKPH dissolved into the unified CPI.[5] The emigré CPI, which probably had little organic character anyway, was effectively substituted by the organization now operating inside India. The sixth congress of the Communist International met in 1928. In 1927 the Kuomintang 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 Congress and oppose all phrases of the Swarajists, Gandhists, etc. about passive resistance'.[6] 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 bourgeosie and the British imperialists.[7] When Indian leftwing elements formed the Congress Socialist Party in 1934, the CPI branded it as Social Fascist.[6] Only in 1935 was the party ready to be accepted as the Indian section of the Communist Third International. In connection with the change of policy of the Comintern toward Popular Front politics, the Indian communists changed their relation to the Indian National Congress. The communists joined the Congress Socialist Party (CSP), the left wing of Congress. In Kerala communists won control over CSP, and for a brief period controlled Congress there. 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 strike, no-tax, no-rent policies and mobilising for an armed revolution uprising. The National Executive of the CSP assembled at Ramgarh took a decision that all communists were expelled from CSP.[8] After that the USSR had sided with Britain in the war, the Communist Party of India was legalized for the first time. 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 Movement. 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 Bengal, and won all of them. One CPI candidate, Somanth Lahiri, was elected to the Constituent Assembly.[9]
Communism in India
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Communist Party of India |
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In 1946 the party launched the Tebhaga movement in Bengal, 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 1948, at the 4th Party Congress in Palghat, B.T. Ranadive (BTR) was elected General Secretary of the party. 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 Tripura, Telangana and Kerala. The most important rebellion took place in Telangana, against the Nizam of Hyderabad. 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 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. Namboodiripad became Chief Minister. At the 1957 international meeting of communist parties in Moscow, the Communist Party of China directed criticism at CPI for having formed a ministry in Kerala.[10] A serious rift within the party surfaced in 1962. One reason was the Sino-Indian War, 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 supported the Chinese stand where as the Nationalists backed India. Centrists took a neutral view. Prominent leaders including S.A. Dange, A. K. Gopalan, and E. M. S. Namboodiripad were in the nationalist faction. B. T. Ranadive, Sundarayya, P. C. Joshi, Basavapunniah, Jyoti Basu, and Harkishan Singh Surjeet are among those supported China. Ajoy Ghosh was the prominent person in the centrist faction. In general, most of Bangal communist leaders supported China and most others supported India [1]. 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). 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 A. K. Gopalan, and E.M.S. Namboothirippad, and internationalists P. Sundarayya, Jyoti Basu, and Harkishan Singh Surjeet in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) proves this fact. During the period 1970-77, CPI was allied with the Congress party. In Kerala, they formed a government together with Congress, with the CPI-leader Achutha Menon as Chief Minister. After the fall of the regime of Indira Gandhi, 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 Canadian was assassinated by Sikh extremists.
Present Situation
CPI is recognized by the Election Commission of 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 support the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance 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 Front. Upon attaining power in May 2004, the United Progressive Alliance formulated a programme of action known as the Common Minimum Programme. The Left bases its support to the UPA on strict adherence to it. Provisions of the CMP mentions to discontinue disinvestment, massive social sector outlays and an Independent Foreign Policy. In West Bengal it participates in the Left Front-government. It also participates in the state government in Manipur. In Kerala the party is part of Left Democratic Front, and has ministers in the state government. In Tripura the party is a partner of the governing Left Front, but does not have any ministers of its own. In Tamil Nadu it is part of the Progressive Democratic Alliance. The current general secretary of CPI is Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan. The principal mass organizations of the CPI are:
- All India Trade Union Congress
- All India Youth Federation
- All India Students Federation
- National Federation of Indian Women
- All India Kisan Sabha (peasants organization)
- Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union (agricultural workers)
- All India State Government Employees Federation (State government employees)
Lok Sabha (House of the People) Election Results for the Communist Party
| 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 Pradesh | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 42 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Assam | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| Bihar | 6 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 40 (2004)/54(1999) |
| Chhattisgarh | 1 | 0 | - | - | 11 (2004) |
| Goa | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Gujarat | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
| Haryana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Jharkhand | 1 | 1 | - | - | 14 (2004) |
| Karnataka | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Kerala | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 20 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 (2004)/40(1999) |
| Maharashtra | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 |
| Manipur | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Meghalaya | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Mizoram | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nagaland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Orissa | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 21 |
| Punjab | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Rajasthan | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 25 |
| Sikkim | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Tamil Nadu | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 39 |
| Tripura | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 6 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 80 (2004)/85 (1999) |
| Uttaranchal | 0 | 0 | - | - | 5 (2004) |
| West Bengal | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 42 |
| Union Territories | |||||
| Andaman & Nicobar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Chandigarh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Daman and Diu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Delhi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Lakshadweep | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pondicherry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total: | 34 | 10 | 54 | 4 | 543 |
State Election Results For the Communist Party of India
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| State | No. of candidates | No. of elected | Total no. of seats in Assembly | Year of Election |
| Andhra Pradesh | 12 | 6 | 294 | 2004 |
| Assam | 19 | 1 | 126 | 2001 |
| Bihar | 153 | 5 | 324 | 2000 |
| Chhattisgarh | 18 | 0 | 90 | 2003 |
| Delhi | 2 | 0 | 70 | 2003 |
| Goa | 3 | 0 | 40 | 2002 |
| Gujarat | 1 | 0 | 181 | 2002 |
| Haryana | 10 | 0 | 90 | 2000 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 7 | 0 | 68 | 2003 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 5 | 0 | 87 | 2002 |
| Karnataka | 5 | 0 | 224 | 2004 |
| Kerala | 22 | 17 | 140 | 2006 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 17 | 0 | 230 | 2003 |
| Maharashtra | 19 | 0 | 288 | 1999 |
| Manipur | 16 | 4 | 60 | 2006 |
| Meghalaya | 3 | 0 | 60 | 2003 |
| Mizoram | 4 | 0 | 40 | 2003 |
| Orissa | 6 | 1 | 147 | 2004 |
| Pondicherry | 2 | 0 | 30 | 2001 |
| Punjab | 11 | 0 | 117 | 2006 |
| Rajasthan | 15 | 0 | 200 | 2003 |
| Tamil Nadu | 8 | 6 | 234 | 2006 |
| Tripura | 2 | 1 | 60 | 2003 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 5 | 0 | 402 | 2002 |
| Uttaranchal | 14 | 0 | 70 | 2002 |
| West Bengal | 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 Jharkhand), defections and by-elections during the mandate period. See also: List of political parties in India, Politics of India, List of Communist Parties
External links
References
- ^ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 88-89
- ^ Ganguly, Basudev. S.A. Dange - A Living Presence at the Centenary Year in Banerjee, Gopal (ed.) S.A. Dange - A Fruitful Life. Kolkata: Progressive Publishers, 2002. p. 63.
- ^ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 89
- ^ a b Ralhan, O.P. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Political Parties New Delhi: Anmol Publications p. 336, Rao. p. 89-91
- ^ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 92-93
- ^ a b Saha, Murari Mohan (ed.), Documents of the Revolutionary Socialist Party: Volume One 1938-1947. Agartala: Lokayata Chetana Bikash Society, 2001. p. 21-25
- ^ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 47-48
- ^ Ralhan, O.P. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Political Parties - India - Pakistan - Bangladesh - National -Regional - Local. Vol. 24. Socialist Movement in India. New Dehli: Anmol Publications, 1997. p. 82
- ^ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 207.
- ^ Basu, Pradip. Towards Naxalbari (1953-1967) – An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000. p. 32.
- ^ See the List of recognised political parties in India.
- ^ To gain recognition as a state party, the party must have some kind of political activity for at least five continuous years, and send at least 4% of the state's quota to the Lok Sabha (India's Lower house), or 3.33% of members to the state assembly. If the above conditions are not fulfilled, then a party may gain recognition by garnering not less than 6% of the total votes in a state or national election, polled in by all its contesting candidates. If a party is recognised in four or more states, it is automatically recognised as a national party by the EC.
