1925 Kanpur Communist Conference

The Kanpur Communist Conference was an event of the early communist movement in India, held from 26 to 28 December 1925 at Kanpur. In 1959 the leadership of the Communist Party of India deemed the Kanpur conference as the founding event of the party.

Foundation of Communist Party of India in 1925 was a historic product of the dialectical
combination of national and class struggles, deeply crystallized by
Russian revolution and international events. It was welcomed by all the
progressive sections of the national movement. CPI formed in Kanpur in 1925 was a natural culmination of these processes. The conference was held near Congress pandal, symbolizing close cooperation with
the freedom movement. Kanpur conference setup regular organization, elected central executive committee and officebearers, adopted Constitution, membership form and red flag. CPI evolved in the course of time, to take on the form it subsequently adopted. CPI dialectically combined national and class tasks. Kanpur conference elected M. Singaravelu as chairman and S. V. Ghate and J. P. Bagerhatta, as
general secretaries of CPI. 1927 onwards Ghate remained the only general secretary.

Background

Limited colonial industrialization led to emergence of working class as the material condition for the rise of Communist movement in India. Limited modern education also helped emergence of intelligentsia, many of whom joined socialist and Communist movements.
Foundation of AITUC in 1920 contributed in its own way towards the formation of CPI. It qualitatively raised the class consciousness of the working class. The inaugural speech of Lala Lajpat Rai at AITUC conference is the proof of it. Later on, the Communists gained influence and brought national and
class consciousness to the movement. S. A. Dange, S. V. Ghate, S. S. Mirajkar,
Muzaffar Ahmed, M. Singaravelu, K.N. Joglekar, Ajoy Ghosh, P. C. Joshi, Shapurji Saklatvala, and a host of others helped politicize and ideologize the working class.
In the meantime, the Communist groups in major industrial centers
helped the move towards formation of CPI. Tashkent group had no
role to play in these events.
Various Communist groups brought out Marxist newspapers, such as The Socialist by S. A. Dange, Langal by
Muzaffar Ahmed, Kirti by Sohan Singh Josh, Labor Kisan Gazette by M. Singaravelu, and many others that started coming out in this period. S.A. Dange wrote the first Marxist booklet in India, Gandhi vs Lenin
(1921), comparing and contrasting politico-ideological views of
Lenin and Gandhi. The Socialist trained early generations of Marxists. Communists were inseparable part of the freedom movement. It was in 1921 that Maulana Hasrat Mohani, a Communist, presented resolution demanding full independence at Ahmedabad session of Congress. By 1925, there was considerable number of Communists as members of the AICC as well as in some of the provincial Congress Committees such as in Bombay, Madras, Punjab, etc. M. Singaravelu worked actively within the Madras PCC (Provincial or Presidency Congress Committee) and in AICC. Working class played
a crucial role in Indian freedom movement, Communists contributing immensely.

References

{{Reflist
1925 in India
Political party assemblies
Communist Party of India
1925 conferences
Indian independence movement
History of Kanpur