Communist Party of India

CPI is officially known as भारतीय साम्यवादी पार्टी (भाकपा) [Bhāratīya Kamyunisṭ Pārṭī] (BaKaPa) in Hindi.

==Emblem==

The emblem of the party shall be a crossed Hammer and Sickle in white against a red background with a circular inscription in white: “Communist Party of India”.https://hindi.eci.gov.in/files/file/4927-communist-party-of-india-constitution/

==Flag==

The flag of the party shall be a Red Flag of which the length shall be one-and-a-half times its width. At the centre of the flag there shall be a crossed hammer and sickle in white.https://hindi.eci.gov.in/files/file/4927-communist-party-of-india-constitution/

The Communist Party of India (CPI) was formed on 26 December 1925 at the first Party Conference in Kanpur, which was then known as Cawnpore. S. V. Ghate was the first General Secretary of the CPI. There were many communist groups formed by Indians with the help of foreigners in different parts of the world, Tashkent group of Contacts were made with Anushilan and Jugantar the groups in Bengal, and small communist groups were formed in Bombay (led by S. A. Dange), Madras (led by Singaravelu), United Provinces (led by Shaukat Usmani), Punjab, Sindh (led by Ghulam Hussain), Orissa (led by Bhagabati Charan Panigrahi) and Bengal (led by Muzaffar Ahmed).

There is a dispute on the year of formation of CPI. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) which split from CPI in 1964, considers 17 October 1920 as the founding day of Communist Party of India. On this day, M. N. Roy, Evelyn Trent-Roy, Abani Mukherji, Rosa Fitingov, Mohd. Ali, Mohamad Shafiq, and M. P. T. Acharya met in Tashkent to form the communist movement in India. Though 1920 and 1925 both dates are insignificant, because on both of these occasions, the CPI did not adopt a "Party Constitution", which was a foremost prerequisite required to be considered for the membership of the Communist International. The CPI considers 1925 as their founding day, but CPI(M) thinks 1920 as the year, when communist movement in India was founded. There is a technical dispute between both parties on this issue.{{cite book |last1=Karat |first1=Brinda |title=100 Years of the Communist Party |date=2019 |publisher=Communist Party of India (Marxist) |location=New Delhi |pages=5, 9 |url=https://dataspace.princeton.edu/handle/88435/dsp015q47rr96x |access-date=12 April 2024}}

During the 1920s and the early 1930s the party was poorly organised, and in practice there were several communist groups working with limited national co-ordination. The government banned all communist activity, which made the task of building a united party difficult. Between 1921 and 1924, there were three conspiracy trials against the communist movement: the Peshawar Conspiracy Cases, the Meerut Conspiracy Case, and the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case. In the first three cases, Russian-trained muhajir communists were put on trial. However, the Cawnpore (now spelt Kanpur) trial had more political impact. On 17 March 1924, Shripad Amrit Dange, M. N. Roy, Muzaffar Ahmad, Nalini Gupta, Shaukat Usmani, Malayapuram Singaravelu, Ghulam Hussain, and R. C. Sharma were charged, in Cawnpore Bolshevik Conspiracy case. The specific pip 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 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.Ralhan, O. P. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Political Parties New Delhi: Anmol Publications p. 336, Rao. p. 89-91.

Singaravelu Chettiar was released on account of illness. M. N. Roy was in Germany and R. C. Sharma in French Pondichéry, 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. Dange was released from prison in 1927. Rahul Dev Pal was a prominent communist leader.

On 26 December 1925, a communist conference was organised in Kanpur.{{cite web|title=Historical Moments in Kanpur|url=http://genieforcity.com/kanpur/history-kanpur.html|access-date=14 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821203425/http://genieforcity.com/kanpur/history-kanpur.html|archive-date=21 August 2016|url-status = live}} Government authorities estimated that 500 persons took part in the conference. The conference was convened by a man called Satya Bhakta. At the conference Satyabhakta argued for a 'National communism' and against subordination under the Comintern. Being outvoted by the other delegates, Satyabhakta left the conference venue in protest. The conference adopted the name 'Communist Party of India'. Groups such as Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan (LKPH) dissolved into the CPI.M. V. S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 92-93 The émigré CPI, which probably had little organic character anyway, was effectively substituted by the organisation now operating inside India.

Soon after the 1926 conference of the Workers and Peasants Party of Bengal, 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.M. V. S. Koteshwar Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 111

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'.Saha, Murari Mohan (ed.), Documents of the Revolutionary Socialist Party: Volume One 1938–1947. Agartala: Lokayata Chetana Bikash Society, 2001. p. 21-25 The congress did however differentiate 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 use the contradictions between the national bourgeoisie and the British imperialists.M. V. S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 47-48 The congress also denounced the WPP. The Tenth Plenum of the executive committee of the Communist International, 3 July 1929{{spaced ndash}}19 July 1929, directed the Indian communists to break with WPP. When the communists deserted it, the WPP fell apart.M. V. S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 97-98, 111–112

File:Meerut prisoners outside the jail.jpg prisoners taken outside the jail. Back row (left to right): K. N. Sehgal, S. S. Josh, H. L. Hutchinson, Shaukat Usmani, B. F. Bradley, A. Prasad, P. Spratt, G. Adhikari. Middle row: R. R. Mitra, Gopen Chakravarti, Kishori Lal Ghosh, L. R. Kadam, D. R. Thengdi, Goura Shanker, S. Bannerjee, K. N. Joglekar, P. C. Joshi, Muzaffar Ahmad. Front row: M. G. Desai, D. Goswami, R. S. Nimbkar, S. S. Mirajkar, S. A. Dange, S. V. Ghate, Gopal Basak.]]

On 20 March 1929, arrests against WPP, CPI and other labour leaders were made in several parts of India, in what became known as the Meerut Conspiracy Case. The communist leadership was now put behind bars. The trial proceedings were to last for four years.Ralhan, O.P. (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Political Parties – India – Pakistan – Bangladesh – National -Regional – Local. Vol. 23. Revolutionary Movements (1930–1946). New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 2002. p. 689-691M. V. S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 96

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.E. M. S. Namboodiripad. The Communist Party in Kerala – Six Decades of Struggle and Advance. New Delhi: National Book Centre, 1994. p. 7

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.Surjeet, Harkishan Surjeet. March of the Communist Movement in India – An Introduction to the Documents of the History of the Communist Movement in India. Calcutta: National Book Agency, 1998. p. 25

When Indian left-wing elements formed the Congress Socialist Party in 1934, the CPI branded it as Social Fascist.

The League Against Gandhism, initially known as the Gandhi Boycott Committee, was a political organisation in Calcutta, founded by the underground Communist Party of India and others to launch militant anti-Imperialist activities. The group took the name 'League Against Gandhism' in 1934.Roy Subodh, Communism in India – Unpublished Documents 1925–1934. Calcutta: National Book Agency, 1998. p. 338-339, 359–360

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, which worked as the left-wing of Congress. Through joining CSP, the CPI accepted the CSP demand for a Constituent Assembly, which it had denounced two years before. The CPI however analysed that the demand for a Constituent Assembly would not be a substitute for soviets.Roy, Samaren. M. N. Roy: A Political Biography. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 1998. p. 113, 115

In July 1937, a clandestine meeting was held at Calicut.{{cite web|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/article30224225.ece|title=A man and a movement|first=R. KRISHNAKUMAR in|last=Thiruvananthapuram|website=Frontline|date=26 August 2004|access-date=1 January 2021|archive-date=23 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423104847/https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/article30224225.ece|url-status=live}} Five persons were present at the meeting, P. Krishna Pillai, K. Damodaran, E. M. S. Namboodiripad, N. C. Sekhar and S.V. Ghate. The first four were members of the CSP in Kerala. The CPI in Kerala was formed on 31 December 1939 with the Pinarayi Conference.{{cite web|url=http://www.cpimkerala.org/eng/founders-98.php?n=1|title=Founders|website=CPIM Kerala|access-date=1 January 2021|archive-date=8 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208202135/https://www.cpimkerala.org/eng/founders-98.php?n=1|url-status=dead}}

The latter, Ghate, was a CPI Central Committee member, who had arrived from Madras.E. M. S. Namboodiripad. The Communist Party in Kerala – Six Decades of Struggle and Advance. New Delhi: National Book Centre, 1994. p. 6 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 E. M. S. Namboodiripad 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 Sabha.

In 1936–1937, the co-operation 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-Leninism'.E. M. S. Namboodiripad. The Communist Party in Kerala – Six Decades of Struggle and Advance. New Delhi: National Book Centre, 1994. p. 44 At the 3rd CSP congress, held in Faizpur, several communists were included into the CSP National Executive Committee.E. M. S. Namboodiripad. The Communist Party in Kerala – Six Decades of Struggle and Advance. New Delhi: National Book Centre, 1994. p. 45

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 use 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 revolutionary uprising. The National Executive of the CSP assembled at Ramgarh took a decision that all communists were expelled from CSP.Ralhan, O. P. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Political Parties – India – Pakistan – Bangladesh – National -Regional – Local. Vol. 24. Socialist Movement in India. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 1997. p. 82

In July 1942, the CPI was legalised, as a result of Britain and the Soviet Union becoming allies against Nazi Germany.Surjeet, Harkishan Surjeet. March of the Communist Movement in India – An Introduction to the Documents of the History of the Communist Movement in India. Calcutta: National Book Agency, 1998. p. 55 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.newsclick.in/Communists-During-India-Freedom-Struggle?amp |title=Where Were Communists During India's Freedom Struggle? |date=15 August 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2012/15/letters/cpi-and-quit-india-movement.html|title=CPI and the Quit India Movement|date=14 April 2012 |access-date=8 June 2024}}

CPI contested the Provincial Legislative Assembly elections of 1946 on its own. It had candidates in 108 out of 1585 seats, winning 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, Somnath Lahiri, was elected to the Constituent Assembly.M. V. S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 207.

The Communist Party of India opposed the partition of India and did not participate in the Independence Day celebrations of 15 August 1947 in protest at the division of the country.{{cite book |last1=Bandyopadhyay |first1=Sekhar |title=Decolonization in South Asia: Meanings of Freedom in Post-independence West Bengal, 1947–52 |date=2009 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-01823-9 |language=en |quote=As a protest against Partition, the Hindu Mahasabha and the Communist Party of India (CPI) did not participate in the celebrations of 15 August.}}

File:Armed peasants - Telangana armed struggle.jpg (1946–1952), was a peasant rebellion by communists against the feudal lords of the Telangana region in the princely state of Hyderabad. ]]

File:Telangana_Armed_Struggle_guerrillas.jpg

File:A Communist Party camp in Karol Bagh, Delhi, 1952.jpg, Delhi, for the 1952 Indian general election]]

File:Kerala Council of Ministers 1957 EMS.jpg

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.Chandra, Bipan & others (2000). India after Independence 1947–2000, New Delhi:Penguin, {{ISBN|0-14-027825-7}}, p. 204 The conference adopted the 'Programme of Democratic Revolution'. This programme included the first mention of struggle against caste injustice in a CPI document.{{cite web|url=http://www.ceri-sciencespo.com/archive/april01/artcj.pdf|title=Page d'accueil – Sciences Po CERI|access-date=12 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227153210/http://www.ceri-sciencespo.com/archive/april01/artcj.pdf|archive-date=27 February 2008|url-status = live}}

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.{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3516269|title=Telangana People's Armed Struggle, 1946-1951. Part One: Historical Setting|jstor=3516269 |access-date=24 March 2024 |last1=Sundarayya |first1=P. |journal=Social Scientist |date=23 May 1973 |volume=1 |issue=7 |pages=3–19 |doi=10.2307/3516269 }} 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 Manipur, the party became a force to reckon with through the agrarian struggles led by Jananeta Irawat Singh. Singh had joined CPI in 1946.{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070206/asp/northeast/story_7350994.asp|title=The Telegraph – Calcutta : Northeast|access-date=6 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014070444/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070206/asp/northeast/story_7350994.asp|archive-date=14 October 2008|url-status = dead}} At the 1951 congress of the party, 'People's Democracy' was substituted by 'National Democracy' as the main slogan of the party.E. M. S. Namboodiripad. The Communist Party in Kerala – Six Decades of Struggle and Advance. New Delhi: National Book Centre, 1994. p. 273

A Communist Party was founded in Bihar in 1939. Post independence, the Communist Party achieved success in Bihar (Bihar and Jharkhand). The Communist Party conducted movements for land reform, trade union movement was at its peak in Bihar in the sixties, seventies and eighties. Achievement of communists in Bihar placed the Communist Party in the forefront of left movement in India.{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44145534|title=Peasant Movement and Communist Mobilization in Bihar: A Case Study of Darbhanga (1950-70)|jstor=44145534 |access-date=24 March 2024 |last1=Chaudhry |first1=Vandhana |last2=Chaudhry |first2=Vandana |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=23 May 2024 |volume=64 |pages=1074–1082 }} Bihar produced some of the legendary leaders like Kishan leaders Sahajanand Saraswati and Karyanand Sharma, intellectual giants like Jagannath Sarkar, Yogendra Sharma, and Indradeep Sinha, mass leaders like Chandrasekhar Singh and Sunil Mukherjee, Trade Union leaders like Kedar Das and others.{{cite web|url=https://droltuvide.weebly.com/uploads/1/4/8/7/148778685/indian-communist-party.pdf|title=Indian Communist Party|access-date=24 March 2024}} In the Mithila region of Bihar Bhogendra Jha led the fight against the Mahants and Zamindars. He later went on the win Parliamentary elections and was MP for seven terms.{{cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/kanhaiya-kumars-ticket-to-stardom-or-oblivion-6350491.html|title=Kanhaiya Kumar's ticket to stardom or oblivion?|date=29 March 2019 |access-date=24 March 2024}}{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/Bhogendra-Jha-passes-away/article16357155.ece | title=Bhogendra Jha passes away | work=The Hindu | date=22 January 2009 | access-date=20 October 2017}}

In the early 1950s, young communist leadership was uniting textile workers, bank employees and unorganised sector workers to ensure mass support in north India. National leaders like S. A. Dange, Chandra Rajeswara Rao, and P. K. Vasudevan Nair were encouraging them and supporting the idea despite their differences on the execution. Firebrand Communist leaders like Homi F. Daji, Guru Radha Kishan, H. L. Parwana, Sarjoo Pandey, Darshan Singh Canadian and Avtaar Singh Malhotra were emerging between the masses and the working class in particular.{{cite web|url=https://cbpbu.ac.in/userfiles/file/2020/STUDY_MAT/POL_SC/LEFT%20PARTIES%20(1).pdf|title=COURSE-420. UNIT-3 BY Dr. ALEYA MOUSAMI SULTANA DEPT. OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, CPBU. LEFT PARTIES IN INDIA|access-date=24 March 2024}} 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 1952, CPI became the first leading opposition party in the 1st Lok Sabha, while the Indian National Congress was in power.{{cite web|url=https://thewire.in/history/how-communist-party-of-india-emerged-as-largest-opposition-to-congress-in-1951-52|title=How Communist Party of India Emerged as Largest Opposition to Congress in 1951-52|access-date=24 March 2024}}

In the 1952 Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly election, the Communist Party was banned, so it couldn't take part in the election process.{{cite web | url=http://kerala.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3776:history-of-kerala-legislature | title=History of Kerala Legislature | work=Government of Kerala | access-date=28 July 2015 |url-status = dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006101549/http://kerala.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3776%3Ahistory-of-kerala-legislature | archive-date=6 October 2014 | df=dmy-all }} 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 Chinese Communist Party directed criticism at the CPI for having formed a ministry in Kerala.Basu, Pradip. Towards Naxalbari (1953–1967) – An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000. p. 32.

Liberation of Dadra-Nagar Haveli:

The Communist Party of India, along with its units in Bombay, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, decided to start armed operations in the area in the July 1954. Both the areas were liberated by the beginning of August. Communist leaders like Narayan Palekar, Parulekar, Vaz, Rodriguez, Cunha, and others emerged as the famous Communist leaders of this movement. Thereafter, the struggle to liberate Daman and Diu was begun by the Communist Party in Gujarat and other forces.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsclick.in/Revisiting-Goa-Liberation-Story-59th-Independence-Day|title=Revisiting Goa's Liberation Story on its 59th Independence Day|date=18 December 2020|access-date=23 July 2021|archive-date=23 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723074406/https://www.newsclick.in/Revisiting-Goa-Liberation-Story-59th-Independence-Day|url-status=live}}

Goa Satyagraha:

The countrywide Goa satyagraha of 1955–1956 is among the unforgettable pages in the history of freedom struggle, in which the communists played a major and memorable role. The CPI decided to send batches of satyahrahis since the middle of 1955 to the borders of Goa and even inside. Many were killed, many more others arrested and sent to jails inside Goa and inhumanly treated. Many others were even sent to jails in Portugal and were brutally tortured.

The satyagraha was led and conducted by a joint committee known as Goa Vimochan Sahayak Samiti. S. A. Dange, Senapati Bapat, S. G. Sardesai, Nana Patil and several others were among the prominent leaders of the Samiti. Satyagraha began on 10 May 1955, and soon became a countrywide movement.{{cite web|url=https://mainstreamweekly.net/article3273.html|title=Goa — the Liberators and the Lesson – Mainstream|access-date=23 July 2021|archive-date=23 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723074407/https://mainstreamweekly.net/article3273.html|url-status=live}}

Ideological differences led 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).{{cite web|url=https://fiftytwo.in/blog/whats-the-difference-between-cpi-and-cpim/|title=What's the difference between CPI and CPI(M)?|access-date=23 March 2024}}

During the period between 1970 and 1977, the CPI was allied with the Congress party. In Kerala, they formed a government together with Congress as part of a coalition known as the United Front, with the CPI-leader C. Achutha Menon as Chief Minister. This government continued governing throughout the emergency period and was responsible for the many acts of repression throughout the period carried out against political opponents in the guise of fighting naxals, manifesting most infamously in the Rajan case. The United Front government also used this opportunity to pursue class struggle by punishing those from the managerial classes, money lenders, bosses with anti-labour stances, ration shopkeepers and truckers engaged in black marketing, under stringent provisions of MISA and DIR.{{Cite book |last=Jaffrelot |first=Christophe |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1242023968 |title=India's first dictatorship : the emergency, 1975 -1977 |date=2021 |others=Pratinav Anil |isbn=978-93-90351-60-2 |location=Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India |oclc=1242023968}}

In the 1980s, the CPI opposed the Khalistan movement at Punjab.{{cite news |last1=Thukral |first1=Gobind |date=31 October 1986 |title=Punjab: Red Targets |work=India Today |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/killing-of-communist-leaders-in-punjab-makes-left-parties-more-firm-in-opposing-terrorism/1/348960.html |accessdate=1 October 2015}}{{Cite web |title=Spokane Chronicle - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19860327&id=MetWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zfkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5436,2840055&hl=en |access-date=7 October 2023 |website=news.google.com}}{{Cite web |title=Killing of communist leaders in Punjab makes Left parties more firm in opposing terrorism |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19861031-killing-of-communist-leaders-in-punjab-makes-left-parties-more-firm-in-opposing-terrorism-801383-1986-10-30 |access-date=14 May 2023 |website=India Today |date=31 October 1986 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=9 June 2013 |title=Gurpreet Singh: Khalistani separatists' killings leave a legacy of sorrow in Canada and the U.S. |url=https://www.straight.com/news/389916/gurpreet-singh-khalistani-separatists-killings-leave-legacy-sorrow-canada-and-us |access-date=14 May 2023 |website=The Georgia Straight |language=en}}

In 1986, the CPI's leader in Punjab and MLA in the Punjabi legislature Darshan Singh Canadian was assassinated by Sikh extremists. Altogether about 200 communist leaders out of which most were Sikhs were killed by Sikh extremists in Punjab.{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Bhupinder |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rik0EAAAQBAJ&dq=Chanan+Singh+Dhoot+killed&pg=PT53 |title=Punjab Politics: Retrospect and Prospect |publisher=Readworthy |isbn=978-93-5018-082-2 |language=en}}{{Cite news |title=ਧੂਤ ਦੇ ਕਤਲ ਦੀ ਜ਼ਿੰਮੇਵਾਰੀ ਜਿੰਦਾ ਨੇ ਲਈ-ਪੁਲਸ ਨੂੰ ਸਖਤ ਤਾੜਨਾ |work=Ajit}}

[[File:Left parties in coalition as of Dec 24.png|thumb|412x412px|Left parties' regional control

{{legend|#4D004B|State/s which has/had chief ministers from both the CPI(M) and the CPI.|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

{{legend|#B30000|State/s which had chief ministers from the CPI(M).|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

{{legend|#F781BF|States which have Governments of coalition of parties including Left parties like CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML)L and AIFB.|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

{{legend|#969696| States which did not have/had a chief minister from the CPI(M) or the CPI.|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}]]

File:Cpipkvtvnd (87).JPG]]

The CPI was recognised by the Election Commission of India as a 'National Party'. Until 2022, CPI happened to be the only national political party from India to have contested all the general elections using the same electoral symbol. Owing to a massive defeat in 2019 Indian general election where the party saw its tally reduced to two MPs, the Election Commission of India sent a letter to CPI asking for reasons why its national party status should not be revoked.{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/BSP-CPI-NCP-get-to-retain-national-status-for-now/articleshow/53819419.cms|title=BSP, CPI, NCP get to retain national status, for now – Times of India|work=The Times of India|access-date=25 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412014828/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/BSP-CPI-NCP-get-to-retain-national-status-for-now/articleshow/53819419.cms|archive-date=12 April 2017|url-status = live}}{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/CPM-may-lose-national-party-status/articleshow/52370325.cms|title=CPM may lose national party status – Times of India|work=The Times of India|access-date=25 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117143649/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/CPM-may-lose-national-party-status/articleshow/52370325.cms|archive-date=17 January 2018|url-status = live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/bsp-ncp-and-cpi-may-lose-national-party-status/story-QTvg2iWonkSWbtxN57xd5I.html|title=BSP, NCP and CPI may lose national party status|date=11 August 2014|work=hindustantimes.com/|access-date=25 November 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116133233/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/bsp-ncp-and-cpi-may-lose-national-party-status/story-QTvg2iWonkSWbtxN57xd5I.html|archive-date=16 November 2017|url-status = live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Reprieve-for-BSP-CPI-as-EC-amends-rules/article14583806.ece|title=Reprieve for BSP, CPI as EC amends rules|date=23 August 2016|work=The Hindu|access-date=25 November 2017|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=21 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121195958/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Reprieve-for-BSP-CPI-as-EC-amends-rules/article14583806.ece|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.oneindia.com/feature/ec-might-strip-national-party-status-from-bsp-ncp-cpi-1475727.html|title=EC might strip national party status from BSP, NCP, CPI|work=oneindia.com|access-date=25 November 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116132759/https://www.oneindia.com/feature/ec-might-strip-national-party-status-from-bsp-ncp-cpi-1475727.html|archive-date=16 November 2017|url-status = live}} Due to repeated poor performances in elections, the Election Commission of India withdrew its national party status on 10 April 2023.

On the national level, they supported the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government along with other parliamentary Left parties, but without taking part in it. Upon attaining power in May 2004, the United Progressive Alliance formulated a programme of action known as the Common Minimum Programme.{{cite web |url=http://www.hindu.com/2004/05/28/stories/2004052807371200.htm |title=The Hindu : National : UPA Government to adhere to six basic principles of governance |website=www.hindu.com |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040606150120/http://www.hindu.com/2004/05/28/stories/2004052807371200.htm |archive-date=6 June 2004 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|date=3 April 2005|title=Prime Minister's Office archived by Wayback machine|url=http://pmindia.nic.in/cmp.htm|access-date=30 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050403170505/http://pmindia.nic.in/cmp.htm|archive-date=3 April 2005}} The Left bases its support to the UPA on strict adherence to it. Provisions of the CMP mentioned to discontinue disinvestment, massive social sector outlays and an independent foreign policy.

On 8 July 2008, the General Secretary of the CPI(M), Prakash Karat, announced that the Left was withdrawing its support over the decision by the government to go ahead with the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act. The Left parties combination had been a staunch advocate of not proceeding with this deal citing national interests.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200807081550.htm|title=The Hindu News Update Service|date=1 August 2008|access-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801185533/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200807081550.htm|archive-date=1 August 2008}}

In West Bengal, the CPI participates in the Left Front. It also participated in the state government in Manipur. In Kerala, the party is part of Left Democratic Front. In Tripura the party is a partner of the Left Front, which governed the state until 2018. In Tamil Nadu it is part of the Secular Progressive Alliance and in Bihar it is the part of Mahagathbandhan. It is involved in the Left Democratic Front in Maharashtra. In February 2022, CPI and Congress formed an alliance in Manipur named Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance.{{cite web|date=28 January 2022|title=Manipur: Congress forms pre-poll alliance with Left-wing political parties|url=https://indianexpress.com/elections/manipur-congress-forms-pre-poll-alliance-with-left-wing-political-parties-7744817/|access-date=4 February 2022|website=The Indian Express|language=en|archive-date=27 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127202313/https://indianexpress.com/elections/manipur-congress-forms-pre-poll-alliance-with-left-wing-political-parties-7744817/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|date=27 January 2022|title=In run-up to Manipur polls, Congress announces pre-poll alliance with 5 parties|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/in-run-up-to-manipur-polls-congress-announces-pre-poll-alliance-with-5-parties-101643300217727.html|access-date=4 February 2022|website=Hindustan Times|language=en|archive-date=4 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204001348/https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/in-run-up-to-manipur-polls-congress-announces-pre-poll-alliance-with-5-parties-101643300217727.html|url-status=live}} The current general secretary of CPI is D. Raja.

As of 2020, the CPI is a part of the state government in Kerala. Pinarayi Vijayan is Chief Minister of Kerala.{{Cite news|title=LDF shatters Kerala's 40-year record, Pinarayi Vijayan now the Marxist Helmsman|work=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/assembly-elections/kerala/ldf-shatters-keralas-40-year-record-pinarayi-vijayan-now-the-marxist-helmsman/articleshow/82359214.cms?from=mdr|access-date=2021-05-03|archive-date=6 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206100814/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/assembly-elections/kerala/ldf-shatters-keralas-40-year-record-pinarayi-vijayan-now-the-marxist-helmsman/articleshow/82359214.cms?from=mdr|url-status=live}} CPI have four Cabinet Ministers in Kerala. In Tamil Nadu, it is in power with SPA coalition led by M. K. Stalin. The Left Front governed West Bengal for 34 years (1977–2011) and Tripura for 25 years (1993–2018)

{{main|List of Rajya Sabha members}}

{{main|List of members of the 18th Lok Sabha}}

The 24th Party Congress of Communist Party of India was held from 14 to 18 October 2022 in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.{{cite web|url=https://www.communistparty.in/blank-1|title=Leadership|website=CPI Official Copy|access-date=2 August 2020|archive-date=26 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226045827/https://www.communistparty.in/blank-1|url-status=dead}}

• D. Raja

1. D. Raja
2. Amarjeet Kaur
3. K. Narayana.
4. Bhalchandra Kango
5. Pallab Sen Gupta
6. Binoy Viswam
7. Syed Azeez Pasha
8. Nagendra Nath Ojha
9. Rama Krushna Panda
10. Annie Raja{{cite web | url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2024/Jul/14/annie-raja-elected-to-cpi-national-secretariat-2 | title=Annie Raja elected to CPI national secretariat }}
11. Girish Chandra Sharma{{cite web | url=https://keralakaumudi.com/en/news/mobile/news.php?id=1343625&u=national-executive-meeting-begins-annie-raja-in-cpi-national-secretariat-1343625 | title=National executive meeting begins; Annie Raja in CPI national secretariat }}

Article XXXII of the party constitution says:

"The tenure of the General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary, if any, and State Secretaries is limited to two consecutive terms—a term being of not less than two years. In exceptional cases, the unit concerned may decide by three-fourth majority through secret ballot to allow two more terms. In case such a motion is adopted that comrade also can contest in the election along with other candidates. As regards the tenure of the office-bearers at district and lower levels, the state councils will frame rules where

necessary."{{cite web|url=https://old.eci.gov.in/files/file/4927-communist-party-of-india/|title=Communist Party of India|date=5 September 2018|access-date=19 April 2021|archive-date=19 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419165305/https://eci.gov.in/files/file/4927-communist-party-of-india/|url-status=live}}

• All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)
• All India Students' Federation (AISF)
• All India Youth Federation (AIYF)
• National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW)
• All India Kisan Sabha – AIKS (peasants organisation)
• Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union – BKMU (agricultural workers)
• Indian People's Theatre Association – IPTA (cultural wing)
• All India State Government Employees Confederation (State government employees)
• Indian Society for Cultural Co-operation and Friendship (ISCUF)
• All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO)
• Progressive Writers' Association (PWA)
• All India Adivasi Mahasabha (Tribal Wing)
• All India Dalit Rights Movement (AIDRM)
• Tamil Nadu Oppressed People's Movement
• People's Service Corps
• Ganamukti Parishad

In Tripura, the Ganamukti Parishad is a major mass organisation amongst the Tripuri peoples of the state.

• Abdul Sattar Ranjoor – Founding state secretary of the CPI in Jammu and Kashmir
• Ajoy Ghosh – Former general secretary of CPI, freedom fighter
• Amarjeet Kaur – General Secretary of AITUC and National Secretary of CPI
• Annabhau Sathe – Samyukta Maharashtra movement leader
• Annie Raja – General Secretary of NFIW and National Executive Member of CPI
• Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan – Former general secretary
• Aruna Asaf Ali – Freedom fighter
• Binoy Viswam – Former Member of Rajya Sabha, Former minister in the Government of Kerala and current State Secretary of CPI Kerala State Committee
• Bhan Singh Bhaura - Parliamentarian from Punjab and Founder President Khet Mazdoor Sabha
• Bhargavi Thankappan – Parliamentarian
• Bhupesh Gupta – Parliamentarian
• C. Achutha Menon – Finance minister in first Kerala ministry Former chief minister of Kerala
• C. Divakaran – Senior leader, former minister and National Council Member from Kerala
• Chandra Rajeswara Rao – former general secretary, Telangana freedom fighter
• Chaturanan Mishra parliamentarian & former Central Minister of India
• Chittayam Gopakumar – Deputy Speaker of Kerala Legislative Assembly and State council member
• C. K. Chandrappan – Parliamentarian & former Kerala state secretary of the party
• C. N. Jayadevan – Senior leader, parliamentarian
• Dhanwantri – one of the founder of communist party in Jammu & Kashmir
• Darshan Singh Canadian – Trade Unionist, fight against Khalistan movement
• D. Pandian – Parliamentarian & former Tamil Nadu state secretary
• D. Raja – parliamentarian & General secretary of the party
• E. Chandrasekharan Nair – Senior leader and former Minister in the Government of Kerala
• Geeta Mukherjee – Parliamentarian & Former Vice President of National Federation of Indian Women
• Govind Pansare – Prominent activist and lawyer
• Gurudas Dasgupta – Parliamentarian & Former General Secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union
• Hajrah Begum – former general secretary of NFIW
• Hasrat Mohani – founding member
• Hijam Irabot – Founder leader of CPI in Manipur
• Hirendranath Mukherjee-Parliamentarian & He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1990 and Padma Vibhushan in 1991 by the President of India for his lifelong services
• Ila Mitra – Peasant Movement Leader from West Bengal
• Indrajit Gupta – Parliamentarian, former general secretary and a former central minister
• Jagannath Sarkar – former National Secretary, freedom fighter, builder of communist movement in Bihar and Jharkhand
• Junu Das – Prominent leader of CPI
• Kalpana Datta – freedom fighter
• Kalyan Roy – Parliamentarian
• Kanam Rajendran – Former Kerala state secretary of the party
• K.N. Joglekar – founding member of CPI
• Kunwar Mohammad Ashraf
• Meghraj Tawar – Former Rajasthan MLA and leader of the CPI
• M. Kalyanasundaram – Parliamentarian
• M. N. Govindan Nair – Kerala state secretary during the first communist ministry and a freedom fighter
• Mohit Banerji – Prominent Leader
• Nallakannu – former Tamil Nadu state secretary of the party
• N. E. Balaram – Founding leader of the communist movement in Kerala, India
• Pannyan Raveendran – Former Kerala state secretary of the party
• Parvathi Krishnan – Parliamentarian
• P. Krishna Pillai – Founder and First secretary of CPI in Kerala
• P. K. Vasudevan Nair – Former Chief minister of Kerala, Former AISF general secretary, Former AIYF general secretary
• Puran Chand Joshi – first general secretary of the Communist Party of India
• P. S. Sreenivasan – Former Minister of Kerala
• Rajaji Mathew Thomas – Journalist, former MLA and CPI National council Member, from Kerala
• Ramendra Kumar – Former Parliamentarian, national executive member, national president AITUC
• Rosamma Punnoose – Freedom Fighter
• R.Sugathan – Prominent trade unionist, mass leader and member of Kerala Legislative assembly
• Sachchidanand Vishnu Ghate – First general secretary of CPI, freedom fighter
• Satypal Dang- He was a legislator of Punjab State Legislative Assembly, representing the Communist Party of India for four terms and a Minister of Food and Civil Supplies in the United Front ministry led by Justice Gurnam Singh and Padma Bhushan Awardee.
• S. S. Mirajkar – Trade Unionist, Freedom fighter
• Suhasini Chattopadhyay – founding member of CPI
• Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy – former general secretary of the party & parliamentarian
• Shripad Amrit Dange – Freedom fighter & former chairman of the party
• Thoppil Bhasi – Writer, film director & parliamentarian
• T. V. Thomas – Minister in first Kerala ministry
• Veliyam Bharghavan – Parliamentarian & Former Kerala state secretary of the party
• Vidya Munshi – Journalist
• Vimla Dang – leader of CPI
• V. S. Sunil Kumar – Former Agriculture Minister in Kerala
• V. V. Raghavan -CPI Central Secretariat Member, two-time Loksabha Member from Thrissur Kerala, Rajya sabha Member, Former Agriculture minister of Kerala

^* : 12 seats in Assam and 1 in Meghalaya did not vote.

{{cite web |url=https://old.eci.gov.in/files/file/10983-6-state-wise-candidate-data-summary/ |title=6. State Wise Candidate data Summary |date=11 October 2019 |access-date=7 October 2020 |archive-date=9 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509155400/https://eci.gov.in/files/file/10983-6-state-wise-candidate-data-summary/ |url-status=live }}

{{cite news | url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/once-upon-a-poll-seventh-lok-sabha-elections-1980/ | title=Seventh Lok Sabha elections (1980) | work=Indian Express | date=14 March 2014 | agency=Indian Express | access-date=18 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026125112/http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/once-upon-a-poll-seventh-lok-sabha-elections-1980/ | archive-date=26 October 2014 |url-status = live| df=dmy-all }}

• N/A indicates Not Available
• {{legend2|#FFE6E6|indicates in government or in Coalition government |border=solid 1px #AAAAAA}}

Results from the Election Commission of India website. Results do not deal with partitions of states, defections and by-elections during the mandate period.

{{portal|India|Politics|Communism|Socialism|Organized Labour}}

• Politics of India
• List of political parties in India
• List of communist parties in India
• List of communist parties
• Left Democratic Front (Kerala)
• Left Front (West Bengal)
• Left Front (Tripura)

{{reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• Chakrabarty, Bidyut. Communism in India: Events, Processes and Ideologies (Oxford University Press, 2014).
• Devika, J. "Egalitarian developmentalism, communist mobilization, and the question of caste in Kerala State, India." Journal of Asian Studies (2010): 799–820. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/J_Devika/publication/231963735_Egalitarian_Developmentalism_Communist_Mobilization_and_the_Question_of_Caste_in_Kerala_State_India/links/56a6105308ae2c689d39b459.pdf online]
• D'mello, Vineet Kaitan. "The United Socialist Front: The Congress Socialist Party and the Communist Party of India." Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol. 73. (2012) [https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156257 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516022738/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156257 |date=16 May 2021 }}.
• Haithcox, John Patrick. Communism and Nationalism in India (Princeton UP, 2015).
• Kautsky, John H. Moscow and the Communist Party of India: A Study in the Postwar Evolution of International Communist Strategy. (MIT Press, 1956).
• Kohli, Atul. "Communist Reformers in West Bengal: Origins, Features, and Relations with New Delhi." in State Politics in Contemporary India (Routledge, 2019) pp. 81–102.
• Lockwood, David. The communist party of India and the Indian emergency (SAGE Publications India, 2016).
• Lovell, Julia. Maoism: A Global History (2019)
• Masani, M.R. The Communist Party of India: A Short History. (Macmillan, 1954). [https://archive.org/details/communistpartyof0000masa online]
• Overstreet, Gene D., and Marshall Windmiller. Communism in India (U of California Press, 2020)
• Paul, Santosh, ed. The Maoist Movement in India: perspectives and counterperspectives (Taylor & Francis, 2020).
• Pons, Silvio and Robert Service, eds. A Dictionary of 20th-Century Communism (Princeton UP, 2010) pp 180–182.
• Singer, Wendy. "Peasants and the Peoples of the East: Indians and the Rhetoric of the Comintern," in Tim Rees and Andrew Thorpe, International Communism and the Communist International, 1919–43. (Manchester University Press, 1998).
• Steur, Luisa. "Adivasis, Communists, and the rise of indigenism in Kerala." Dialectical Anthropology 35.1 (2011): 59–76. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Luisa_Steur/publication/225125280_Adivasis_Communists_and_the_rise_of_indigenism_in_Kerala/links/550945210cf27e990e0e2c5b.pdf online]
• N. E. Balaram, A Short History of the Communist Party of India. Kozikkode, Cannanore, India: Prabhath Book House, 1967.
• Samaren Roy, The Twice-Born Heretic: M.N. Roy and the Comintern. Calcutta: Firma KLM Private, 1986.

• G. Adhikari (ed.), Documents of the History of the Communist Party of India: Volume One, 1917–1922. New Delhi: People's Publishing House, 1971.
• G. Adhikari (ed.), Documents of the History of the Communist Party of India: Volume Two, 1923–1925. New Delhi: People's Publishing House, 1974.
• V. B. Karnick (ed.), Indian Communist Party Documents, 1930–1956. Bombay: Democratic Research Service/Institute of Public Relations, 1957.
• Rao, M. B., Ed. Documents Of The History Of The Communist Party Of India(1948–1950), Vol. 7 (1960) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.148620 online]

{{refend}}

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