The Lal Communist Party Hind Union ('Red Communist Party, Indian Union') was a political party in

Punjab, India Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...

. The party was led by Teja Singh Swatantra. It led militant agrarian struggles in the PEPSU regions. The Lal Communist Party merged back into the Communist Party of India in 1952.

Nakodar conference

The Lal Communist Party was founded by Kirtis and Ghadarites in January 1948, as they broke away from the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

.Sidhu, Ajmer.
Baba Bujha Singh, an untold story
'. Chandigarth, India: .n. 2013. pp. 18, 79Judge, Paramjit S.
Insurrection to Agitation: The Naxalite Movement in Punjab
'. Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1992. pp. 67–70 The founding conference of the party took place in

Nakodar Nakodar is a town and a municipal council in Jalandhar district in the Indian state of Punjab. The city is almost 365 km from Delhi, 25 km from Jalandhar, 49 km from Ludhiana, and about 101 km from Amritsar. Surrounding villa ...

Jalandhar district Jalandhar district is a district in Doaba region of the state of Punjab, India. District headquarters is Jalandhar city. Before the Partition of India, Jalandhar was also the headquarters of the Jalandhar Division, with constituent districts J ...

on 5–8 January 1948. Some 300 delegates participated in the meeting, representing 1,500 party members. The foundation of the Lal Communist Party marked the first major split in the Indian communist movement. The split was due to political differences. The Kirtis, whilst being members of CPI, had retained a sense of Ghadarite romantic idealism, and resisted instructions from the CPI party leadership. The new party reactivated the old Kirti Party district and area committees. It called for armed revolution.Sidhu, Ajmer.
Baba Bujha Singh, an untold story
'. Chandigarth, India: .n. 2013. pp. 80–81

Leadership

The Nakodar conference elected a

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

and a Punjab State Committee for the party. The Central Committee consisted of Teja Singh Swantantra (general secretary), Bhag Singh, Ram Singh Dutt, Bujha Singh, Wadhawa Ram, Chhajju Mal Vaid and Gurcharan Singh Sehnsra. The Punjab State Committee consisted of Chain Singh Chain (secretary), Vishnu Dutt, Harbans Singh Karnana, Giani Santa Singh, Ajmer Singh Bharu, Dharam Singh Fakkar, Paras Ram Kangra, Kanwar Lal Singh and Chanan Singh Tugalwal. The party published the fortnightly ''Lal Jhanda'' ('Red Flag') in Hindi, Punjabi and English. Teja Singh Swatantra was the editor of ''Lal Jhanda'' and Gandharv Sen its manager.Sidhu, Ajmer.
Baba Bujha Singh, an untold story
'. Chandigarth, India: .n. 2013. p. 152

Goa

A leader of the Lal Communist Party,

Pandit Kishori Lal Pandit Kishori Lal (1912 – 11 July 1990) was a communist Indian revolutionary from Punjab who worked with Sukhdev Thapar and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). Early life He was born in village Dharampur, tehsil Dasuya, ...

, was sent to Goa along with a group of fighters to take on the Portuguese rule there. One of the volunteers, Karnail Singh Eesru, was killed in that struggle.

Peasant struggles

The Lal Communist Party was stronger in the PEPSU areas in the Punjab State proper. Compared to the CPI in Punjab, the Lal Communist Party had a stronger base amongst poor peasants. The government began to arrest Lal Communist Party leaders, and in response Teja Singh Swatantra and other key leaders went underground. In the underground the party leadership began preparations for militant agrarian struggles. Three areas of action were identified; PEPSU, Pathankot tehsil in

Gurdaspur district Gurdaspur district is a district in the Majha region of the state of Punjab, India. Gurdaspur is the district headquarters. It internationally borders Narowal District of Pakistani Punjab, and the districts of Amritsar, Pathankot, Kapurthala a ...

and some other areas where the party was less influential. Baba Bujha Singh was put in charge of organising the movement in the PEPSU areas. The party began mobilising militant mass struggles amongst the peasantry, organising large meetings and calling on peasants not to share their crops with landlords. The party built up an armed wing, that began killing landlords in areas of conflict. In 1949 the fighters of the party clashed with police at Kishangarh, a fight in which one sub-inspector was killed. The police forces had to flee the village. The army was sent to put out the armed activities of the party. After two days, with six killed and 26 party members arrested, the party had to surrender.

1952 elections

The Lal Communist Party contested the Punjab and PEPSU Legislative Assembly elections held on 27 March 1952. The party presented five candidates in PEPSU (Sangrur, Sunam, Lehra and two candidates in the multi-member constituency Phagwara). In Punjab the party presented nine candidates (Balachar, Gharhshankar, Nawanshehr, Nurmahal, Nakodar, Bagha Purana, Patti, Tarn Tarn and Sri Gobind Pur). The election symbol of the party was a railway engine.Sud, S. P. Singh, and Ajit Singh Sud.
Indian Elections and Legislators
'. Ludhiana: All India Publications, 1953. p. 48 It managed to win the Sunam seat in the PEPSU assembly and the Bagha Purana seat in the Punjab assembly.Election Commission of India.
STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1951 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF PATIALA & EAST PUNJAB STATES UNION
'Election Commission of India.
STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1951 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF PUNJAB
' Both of the assembly members of the party were named Bachan Singh (one living in Moga and one living in

Sangrur Sangrur is a city in Sangrur district of the Indian state of Punjab, India. It is the headquarters of Sangrur District. Geography Sangrur is located at . It has an average elevation of 237 metres (778 feet). Climate Health s ...

Merger with CPI

Merger talks between the CPI Punjab unit and the Lal Communist Party began in 1951.Singh, Gurharpal.
Communism in Punjab: A Study of the Movement Up to 1967
'. Delhi: Ajanta Publications, 1994. p. 142 The agrarian struggles of the Lal Communist Party lasted until 1952. In that year the campaign bore fruit, as permanent tenants became land owners. Some non-permanent tenants also became land owners. On the other hand, there was a part of the party leadership that criticised the way Teja Singh Swatantra organised the armed struggle. The critics argued that there couldn't be an armed revolution without a people's uprising. The guerrillas of Lal Communist Party had become involved in daciotry as they robbed a bank in

Rae Bareli Raebareli is a city in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Raebareli district and a part of Lucknow Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Sai river, southeast of Lucknow. It possesses many arc ...

, which the critics found inappropriate.Sidhu, Ajmer.
Baba Bujha Singh, an untold story
'. Chandigarth, India: .n. 2013. pp. 83–85 The Lal Communist Party approached the CPI to discuss reunification, albeit Teja Singh Swatantra opposed the idea. The CPI leadership responded positively. A party meeting was held at Dalel Singh Wala, which unanimously decided to dissolve the Lal Communist Party and unconditionally join CPI. As the two communist parties processed their merger, the arrest warrants against most of the Lal Communist Party cadres were cancelled in May 1952. The merger of the two parties was completed in July 1952.

Aftermath

To join CPI, ex-Lal Communist Party members had to apply for membership and author a written confession of self-criticism. Whilst the majority of ex-Lal Communist Party members joined CPI (both in the leadership and grassroots), hundreds of ex-Lal Communist Party members were denied entry into CPI (including Baba Bujha Singh).Sidhu, Ajmer.
Baba Bujha Singh, an untold story
'. Chandigarth, India: .n. 2013. p. 86 Amongst the people that did not join CPI, some went into dacoitry or religious asceticism. Within CPI the former Lal Communist Party members continued to act as a faction of its own for some time. However, the ex-Lal Communist Party faction was gradually marginalised by the right-wing tendency in the party leadership. But when CPI was divided in 1964, many former Lal Communist Party cadres stayed with the right-wing CPI. In particular Teja Singh Swatantra continued to be an important leader inside CPI. In the Sangrur, Patiala and Bhatinda districts many former Lal Communist Party activists stayed in CPI.Judge, Paramjit S.
Insurrection to Agitation: The Naxalite Movement in Punjab
'. Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1992. pp. 72–73 The militant struggles of the Lal Communist Party provided a legacy of the Naxalite movement. Some former Lal Communist Party cadres joined the Naxalites (such as Baba Bujha Singh) and the epicentres of Punjabi Naxalite activity tended to be the former strongholds of the Lal Communist Party.

References

{{reflist, 2 Defunct communist parties in India Political parties established in 1948 Political parties disestablished in 1952 Defunct political parties in Punjab, India 1948 establishments in India Communist Party of India breakaway groups