CPI(M)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the national parties of India. The party emerged from a split in the Communist Party of India (CPI) on 7 November 1964. CPI(M) is a part of ruling alliances in three states — the Left Democratic Front in Kerala, Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, and the Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu. CPIM has representation in the legislative assemblies of 8 states.

The All-India Party Congress is the supreme authority of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). However, during the time between two party congresses, the Central Committee is the highest decision-making body. The Central Committee shall elect from among its members a Polit Bureau including the General Secretary. The Polit Bureau carries on the work of the Central Committee between its two sessions and has the right to take political and organisational decisions in between two meetings of the Central Committee.

Name

CPI(M) is officially known as () in Hindi, but it is often known as (, abbreviated ''MaKaPa'') in press and media circles. During its initial years after the split, the party was often referred to by different names such as 'Left Communist Party' or 'Communist Party of India (Left)'. The party has used the name 'Left' because CPI people were dubbed 'rightist' in nature for their support of the Congress-Nehru regime. During the Kerala Legislative Assembly elections of 1965, the party adopted the name 'Communist Party of India (Marxist)' and applied to obtain its election symbol from the Election Commission of India.

Background

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) emerged from a division within the Communist Party of India, which was formed on 26 December 1925. The CPI had experienced an upsurge in support during the years following the Second World War, and had led armed rebellions in Telangana, Tripura, and Kerala. However, it soon abandoned the strategy of armed revolution in favor of working within the parliamentary framework. In 1950, B. T. Ranadive, the CPI general secretary and a prominent representative of the radical sector inside the party, was demoted on grounds of left-adventurism.

Under the government of the Indian National Congress party of Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India developed close relations and a strategic partnership with the Soviet Union. The Soviet government consequently wished that the Indian communists moderate their criticism towards the Indian state and assume a supportive role towards the Congress governments. However, large sections of the CPI claimed that India remained a semi- feudal country and that class struggle could not be put on the back-burner for the sake of guarding the interests of Soviet trade and foreign policy. Moreover, the Indian National Congress appeared to be generally hostile towards political competition. In 1959 the central government intervened to impose President's Rule in Kerala, toppling the E.M.S. Namboodiripad cabinet (the sole non-Congress state government in the country).

History

Formation of CPI(M) (1964)

The basis of difference in opinion between the two factions in CPI was ideological – about the assessment of the Indian scenario and the development of a party program. This difference in opinion was also a reflection of a similar difference of international level on ideology between the Soviet and Chinese Communist parties. The alleged 'right-wing' inside the party followed the Soviet path whereas the 'left-wing' wanted to follow the Chinese principle of a mass party with a class line with national characteristics. Moreover, the faction of CPI which later became CPI(M) referred to the "right" strategy as a national approach of class collaboration, a damning charge within the communist movement, in which the prioritization of working-class interests and independence is considered paramount. This ideological difference later intensified, coupled with the Soviet-Chinese split at the international level, and ultimately gave rise to the establishment of CPI(M).

Hundreds of CPI leaders, accused of being pro-Chinese, were imprisoned. Thousands of Communists were detained without trial.

In 1962 Ajoy Ghosh, the general secretary of the CPI died. After his death, S.A. Dange was installed as the party chairman (a new position) and E.M.S. Namboodiripad as general secretary. This was an attempt to achieve a compromise.

At a CPI National Council meeting held on 11 April 1964, 32 Council members walked out.

The leftist section, to which the 32 National Council members belonged, organized a convention in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh 7 to 11 July. In this convention, the issues of the internal disputes in the party were discussed. 146 delegates, claiming to represent 100,000 CPI members, took part in the proceedings. The convention decided to convene the 7th Party Congress of CPI in Calcutta later the same year..

Marking a difference from the official sector of CPI, the Tenali convention was marked by the display of a large portrait of the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong.

At the Tenali convention a Bengal-based pro-Chinese group, representing one of the most radical streams of the CPI left-wing, presented a draft program proposal of their own. These radicals criticized the draft program proposal prepared by M. Basavapunniah for undermining class struggle and failing to take a clear pro-Chinese position in the ideological conflict between the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

After the Tenali convention, the CPI left-wing organized party district and state conferences. In West Bengal, a few of these meetings became battlegrounds between the most radical elements and the more moderate leadership. At the Calcutta Party District Conference, an alternative draft program was presented to the leadership by Parimal Das Gupta (a leading figure amongst far-left intellectuals in the party). Another alternative proposal was brought forward to the Calcutta Party District Conference by Aziz ul Haq, but Haq was initially banned from presenting it by the conference organizers. At the Calcutta Party District Conference, 42 delegates opposed M. Basavapunniah's official draft program proposal.

At the Siliguri Party District Conference, the main draft proposal for a party program was accepted, but with some additional points suggested by the far-left North Bengal cadre Charu Majumdar. However, Hare Krishna Konar (representing the leadership of the CPI left-wing) forbade the raising of the slogan ''Mao Tse-Tung Zindabad'' (Long live Mao Tse-Tung) at the conference.

Parimal Das Gupta's document was also presented to the leadership at the West Bengal State Conference of the CPI leftwing. Das Gupta and a few others spoke at the conference, demanding the party ought to adopt the class analysis of the Indian state of the 1951 CPI conference. His proposal was, however, voted down..

The Calcutta Congress was held between 31 October and 7 November, at Tyagraja Hall in southern Calcutta