Communist Party of India

The Communist Party of India is the oldest communist political party in India, and one of the eight national parties in the country.[5][6] The CPI was formed on 26 December 1925 at Kanpur.[2][7][8]

Not to be confused with Communist Party of India (Maoist), Communist Party of India (Marxist), or Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist).

Communist Party of India
AbbreviationCPI
General SecretaryD. Raja
Parliamentary ChairpersonBinoy Viswam
Lok Sabha leaderK. Subbarayan
Rajya Sabha leaderBinoy Viswam
Founded26 December 1925 (1925-12-26)
HeadquartersAjoy Bhavan, 15, Indrajit Gupta Marg, New Delhi, India-110002
NewspaperNew Age
Janayugom
Kalantar
Visalaandhra
Student wingAll India Students Federation
Youth wingAll India Youth Federation
Women's wingNational Federation of Indian Women
Labour wing
Peasant's wingAll India Kisan Sabha
IdeologyCommunism[1]
Marxism-Leninism[2]
Political positionLeft-wing[3]
International affiliationIMCWP
Colours  Red
ECI StatusNational Party[4]
Alliance
List
Democratic Progressive Alliance, Tamil Nadu
Left Front, Tripura
Left Front, West Bengal
Left Democratic Front, Kerala
Left Democratic Front, Maharashtra
Left Democratic Manch, Assam
Mahagathbandhan, Bihar
Punjab Democratic Alliance
Seats in Lok Sabha
2 / 543
Seats in Rajya Sabha
1 / 245
Seats in State Legislative Assemblies
Indian states
19 / 140
(Kerala Legislative Assembly)
2 / 243
(Bihar Legislative Assembly)
Seats in State Legislative Councils
2 / 75
(Bihar Legislative Council)
Number of states and union territories in government
1 / 31
Election symbol
Party flag
Website
www.communistparty.in
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History

Formation

The Communist Party of India was formed on 26 December 1925 at the first Party Conference in Kanpur, then Cawnpore. S.V. Ghate was the first General Secretary of 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 Chettiar), United Provinces (led by Shaukat Usmani), Punjab, Sindh (led by Ghulam Hussain) and Bengal (led by Muzaffar Ahmed).

Involvement in independence struggle

During the 1920s and the early 1930s the party was badly organised, and in practice there were several communist groups working with limited national co-ordination. 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 three conspiracy trials against the communist movement; First Peshawar Conspiracy Case, 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 trial had more political impact. On 17 March 1924, Shripad Amrit Dange, M.N. Roy, 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 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 imperialistic 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.[9]

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.[9] Dange was released from prison in 1927. Rahul Dev Pal was a prominent communist leader

On 25 December 1925 a communist conference was organised in Kanpur.[10] Colonial authorities estimated that 500 persons took part in the conference. The conference was convened by a man called Satyabhakta. At the conference Satyabhakta argued for a 'National communism' and against subordination under 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.[11] 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.[12]

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'.[13] 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 utilise the contradictions between the national bourgeoisie and the British imperialists.[14] The congress also denounced the WPP. The Tenth Plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International, 3 July 1929 – 19 July 1929, directed the Indian communists to break with WPP. When the communists deserted it, the WPP fell apart.[15]

Portrait of 25 of the Meerut 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: Radharaman Mitra, Gopen Chakravarti, Kishori Lal Ghosh, L. R. Kadam, D. R. Thengdi, Goura Shanker, S. Bannerjee, K. N. Joglekar, P. C. Joshi, Muzaffar Ahmed. 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.[16][17]

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.[18]

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.[19]

When Indian left-wing elements formed the Congress Socialist Party in 1934, the CPI branded it as Social Fascist.[13]

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.[20]

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.[21]

In July 1937, clandestine meeting held at Calicut.[22] Five persons were present at the meeting, P. Krishna Pillai E.M.S. Namboodiripad, N.C. Sekhar, K. Damodaran and S.V. Ghate. The first four were members of the CSP in Kerala. The CPI in Kerala was formed in 31 December 1939 with the Pinarayi Conference.[23] The latter, Ghate, was a CPI Central Committee member, who had arrived from Madras.[24] 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 EMS 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.[18]

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'.[25] At the 3rd CSP congress, held in Faizpur, several communists were included into the CSP National Executive Committee.[26]

In Kerala communists won control over CSP, and for a brief period controlled Congress there.

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.[21]

On the occasion of the 1940 Ramgarh Congress Conference CPI released a declaration called Proletarian Path, which sought to utilise 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.[27]

In July 1942, the CPI was legalised, as a result of Britain and the Soviet Union becoming allies against Nazi Germany.[28] 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, Somnath Lahiri, was elected to the Constituent Assembly.[29]

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 of the division of the country.[30]

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 February 1948, at the 2nd Party Congress in Calcutta, B. T. Ranadive (BTR) was elected General Secretary of the party.[31] The conference adopted the 'Programme of Democratic Revolution'. This programme included the first mention of struggle against caste injustice in a CPI document.[32]

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 Manipur, the party became a force to reckon with through the agrarian struggles led by Jananeta Irawat Singh. Singh had joined CPI in 1946.[33] At the 1951 congress of the party, 'People's Democracy' was substituted by 'National Democracy' as the main slogan of the party.[34]

Communist Party was founded in Bihar in 1939. Post independence, communist party achieved success in Bihar (Bihar and Jharkhand). 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. 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. It was in Bihar that JP's total revolution was exposed and communist party under the leadership of Jagannath Sarkar fought Total Revolution and exposed its hollowness. "Many Streams" Selected Essays by Jagannath Sarkar and Reminiscing Sketches, Compiled by Gautam Sarkar, Edited by Mitali Sarkar, First Published : May 2010, Navakaranataka Publications Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore . 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.

In 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. 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 Delhi, May Day (majdoor diwas or mai diwas) was organised at Chandni Chowk Ghantaghar in such a manner that demonstrates the unity between all the factions of working classes and ignite the passion for communist movement in the northern part of India.

In 1952, CPI became the first leading opposition party in the Lok Sabha, while the Indian National Congress was in power.

Communist movement or CPI in particular emerged as a front runner after Guru Radha Kishan undertook a fast unto death for 24 days to promote the cause of textile workers in Delhi. Till than it was a public misconception that communists are revolutionaries with arms in their hands and workers and their families were afraid to get associated with the communists but this act mobilised general public in the favour of communist movement as a whole. During this period people with their families used to visit 'dharna sthal' to encourage CPI cadre.

This model of selflessness for the society worked for the CPI far more than what was expected. This trend was followed by almost all other state units of the party in the Hindi heartland. Communist Party related trade union AITUC became a prominent force to unite the workers in textile, municipal and unorganised sectors, the first labour union in unorganised sector was also emerged in the leadership of Comrade Guru Radha Kishan during this period in Delhi's Sadar Bazaar area. This movement of mass polarisation of workers in the favour of CPI worked effectively in Delhi and paved the way for great success of CPI in the elections in working class dominated areas in Delhi. Comrade Gangadhar Adhikari and E.M.S. Namboodiripad applauded this brigade of dynamic comrades for their selfless approach and organisational capabilities. This brigade of firebrand communists gained more prominence when Telangana hero Chandra Rajeswara Rao to be General Secretary of the Communist Party of India.

In the 1952 Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly election, Communist Party was banned, so it couldn't take part in the election process.[35] 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 the CPI for having formed a ministry in Kerala.[36]

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).

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 C. Achutha Menon as Chief Minister. After the fall of the regime of Indira Gandhi, CPI reoriented itself towards co-operation with CPI(M).

In the 1980s, CPI oppose Khalistan movement at Punjab. In 1986, the CPI's leader in the 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.

Present situation
Communist Party of India (CPI) and CPI-M regional control.
  State/s which had a chief minister from the CPI.
  State/s which had a chief minister from the CPI-M.
  State/s which had chief ministers from both the CPI-M and the CPI.
  States which did not have/had a chief minister from the CPI-M or the CPI.
  Union territories without a state government.
Mural in Thiruvananthapuram

CPI was recognised 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. Owing to a massive defeat in 2019 Indian general election where the party saw its tally reduce to 2 MP, the Election Commission of India has sent a letter to CPI asking for reasons why its national party status should not be revoked.[37][38][39][40][41] If similar performance is repeated in the next election, the CPI will no longer be a national party.

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. 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 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.[42]

In West Bengal it 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 till 2018. In Tamil Nadu it is part of the Progressive Democratic Alliance. It is involved in the Left Democratic Front in Maharashtra. The current general secretary of CPI is D. Raja.

22nd Congress of Communist Party of India being held in Pondicherry

Leadership

Newly Elected CPI National Leadership The following are the members of the Central Control Commission, National Council and Candidate Members to National Council, National Executive, National Secretariat and Party Programme Commission were elected at the 23rd Party Congress of Communist Party of India held from 25 to 29 April 2018 in Kollam, Kerala.[43]

General Secretary

Central Control Commission
  1. Pannian Ravindran (Chairman)
  2. C.A. Kurien
  3. Dr Joginder Dayal (Punjab)
  4. C.R. Bakshi (Chhattisgarh)
  5. P.J.C. Rao (Andhra Pradesh)
  6. Bijoy Narayan Mishra (Bihar)
  7. Moti Lal (Uttar Pradesh)
  8. M. Sakhi Devi (Tripura)
  9. T. Narsimhan (Telangana)
  10. M. Arumugham (Tamil Nadu)
  11. Apurba Mandal (West Bengal)

National Secretariat
  1. S. Sudhakar Reddy
  2. D. Raja
  3. Atul Kumar Anjaan
  4. Amarjeet Kaur
  5. Ramendra Kumar
  6. K. Narayana
  7. Kanam Rajendran
  8. Binoy Viswam
  9. Bhalchandra Kango
  10. Pallab Sen Gupta

National Executive
  1. S. Sudhakar Reddy
  2. D. Raja
  3. Atul Kumar Anjaan
  4. Amarjeet Kaur
  5. Ramendra Kumar
  6. K. Narayana
  7. Kanam Rajendran
  8. Binoy Viswam
  9. Bhalchandra Kango
  10. Pallab Sengupta
  11. Nagendra Nath Ojha
  12. Girish Sharma
  13. Annie Raja
  14. Azeez Pasha
  15. K. Ramakrishna
  16. Satya Narayan Singh
  17. Janaki Paswan
  18. Ram Naresh Pandey
  19. Bhubneshwar Prasad Mehta
  20. K.E. Ismail
  21. Moirangthem Nara
  22. Dibakar Naik
  23. R. Mutharasan
  24. C. Mahendran
  25. Chada Venkata Reddy
  26. K. Subbarayan
  27. Swapan Banerjee
  28. Bant Singh Brar
  29. Munin Mahanta
  30. C.H. Venkatachalam
  31. Kanhaiya Kumar

Ex-Officio Members

  1. Pannian Ravindran (Chairperson, Central Control Commission)

Invitees

  1. Rama Krushna Panda
  2. Manish Kunjam

National Council Members

Members from Centre:

Andhra Pradesh

  • K. Ramakrishna
  • M.N. Rao
  • J.V.S.N. Murthy
  • Jalli Wilson
  • Akkineni Vanaja

Assam

  • Munin Mahanta
  • Kanak Gogoi

Bihar

Chhattisgarh

  • R.D.C.P. Rao
  • Rama Sori

Delhi

  • Dhirendra K. Sharma
  • Prof. Dinesh Varshney

Goa

  • Chirstopher Fonseca

Gujarat

  • Raj Kumar Singh
  • Vijay Shenmare

Haryana

  • Dariyao Singh Kashyap

Himachal Pradesh

  • Shayam Singh Chauhan

Jharkhand

Jammu and Kashmir

Vacant

Karnataka

  • P.V. Lokesh
  • Saathi Sundaresh

Kerala

Manipur

Meghalaya

  • Samudra Gupta

Maharashtra

  • Tukaram Bhasme
  • Namdev Gavade
  • Ram Baheti
  • Prakash Reddy

Madhya Pradesh

  • Arvind Shrivastava
  • Haridwar Singh

Odisha

  • Dibakar Nayak
  • Ashish Kanungo
  • Abhaya Sahoo
  • Ramakrushna Panda
  • Souribandhu Kar

Puducherry

  • A.M. Saleem
  • A. Ramamoorthy

Punjab

  • Bant Singh Brar
  • Jagrup Singh
  • Hardev Singh Arshi
  • Nirmal Singh Dhaliwal
  • Jagjit Singh Joga

Rajasthan

  • Narendra Acharya
  • Tara Singh Sidhu

Tripura

  • Ranjit Majumdar

Tamil Nadu

Telangana

  • Chada Venkat Reddy
  • Palla Venkat Reddy
  • K. Sambasiva Rao
  • Pasya Padma
  • K. Srinivas Reddy
  • K. Shanker
  • T. Srinivas Rao

Uttar Pradesh

  • Girish Sharma
  • Arvind Raj Swarup
  • Imtiyaz Ahmed
  • Prof. Nisha Rathor
  • Ram Chand Saras

Uttarakhand

  • Samar Bhandari

West Bengal

  • Swapan Banerjee
  • Manju Kumar Mazumdar
  • Santosh Rana
  • Shyama Sree Das
  • Ujjawal Chaudhury
  • Chittaranjan Das Thakur
  • Prabir Deb
  • Tarun Das

Candidate Members

  • Prof. Arun Kumar
  • N. Chidambaram
  • Arun Mitra
  • M. Bal Narsima
  • Mithlesh Jha
  • Suhaas Naik
  • Mahesh Kakkath
  • Kh. Surchand Singh
  • Richard B. Thabah
  • G. Obulesu
  • Shuvam Banerjee
  • Vicky Mahesari

Invitee Members

  • Bhupender Sambar
  • Periyaswamy
  • Gulzar Singh Goria
  • Aruna Sinha
  • Asomi Gogoi
  • Kannagi
  • Usha Sahani
  • Indra Mani Devi
  • Durga Bhavani
  • R. C. Singh
  • Amiya Kumar Mohanty

Party Programme Commission
  1. Pallab Sen Gupta
  2. Prekash Babu
  3. C.R. Bakshi
  4. Moirangthem Nara
  5. Anil Rajimwale

State Committee secretaries

Sources[43]

  • Andhra Pradesh : K.Ramakrishna
  • Assam : Munin Mahanta
  • Bihar : Ram Naresh Pandey[44]
  • Chhattisgarh : RDCP Rao
  • Delhi :Prof.Dinesh Varshney
  • Goa : RD Mangueshkar
  • Gujarat : Rajkumar Singh
  • Haryana : Dariyao Singh Kashyap
  • Himachal Pradesh : Shayam Singh Chauhan
  • Jharkhand : Bhubneshwar Prasad Mehta
  • Kerala : Kanam Rajendran
  • Karnataka : Saathi Sundaresh
  • Maharashtra : Prakash Reddy
  • Madhya Pradesh : Arvind Shrivastava
  • Manipur : L. Sotin Kumar
  • Meghalaya : Samudra Gupta
  • Odisha : Ashish Kanungo
  • Puducherry : A.M. Salim
  • Punjab : Bant Singh Brar
  • Rajasthan : Narendra Acharya
  • Tamil Nadu : R. Mutharasan [45][46]
  • Telangana : Chada Venkat Reddy
  • Uttar Pradesh : Girish Sharma
  • Uttarakhand : Samar Bhandari
  • West Bengal : Swapan Banerjee

General secretaries

Party Congress
22nd Congress of Communist Party of India being held in Pondicherry


Party CongressYearPlace
Founding Conference1925 December 25 – 28Kanpur[48]
1st1943 May 23 – 1 JuneBombay[49]
2nd1948 February 28 – 27 MarchCalcutta[50]
3rd1953 December 27 – 1, 954 January 4Madurai[51]
4th1956 April 19 – 29Palghat[52]
5th1958 April 6 – 13Amritsar[53]
6th1961 April 7 – 16Vijayawada[53]
7th1964 December 13 – 23Bombay[54]
8th1968 February 7 – 15Patna
9th1971 October 3 – 10Cochin
10th1975 January 27–2 FebruaryVijayawada
11th1978 March 31 – 7 AprilBathinda
12th1982 March 22 – 28Varanasi
13th1986 March 2 – 17Patna
14th1989 March 6 – 12Calcutta
15th1992 April 10 – 16Hyderabad
16th1995 October 7 – 11Delhi
17th1998 September 14 – 19Chennai
18th2002 March 26 – 31Thiruvananthapuram
19th2005 March 29 – 3 AprilChandigarh [55]
20th2008 March 23 – 27Hyderabad[56]
21st2012 March 27 – 31Patna[57][58]
22nd2015 March 25 – 29Puducherry[59]
23rd2018 April 25 – 29Kollam [60]

Principal mass organisations

Former Chief Ministers

Notable leaders

General election results
Performance of Communist Party of India in Lok Sabha elections
Lok Sabha Year Lok Sabha
constituencies		 Seats
Contested		 Won Net Change
in seats		 Votes Votes % Change in
vote %		 Reference
First 19524894916-3,487,4013.29%- [65]
Second 195749410927 1110,754,0758.92% 5.63% [66]
Third 196249413729 0211,450,0379.94% 1.02% [67]
Fourth 196752010923 067,458,3965.11% 4.83% [68]
Fifth 19715188723 006,933,6274.73% 0.38% [69]
Sixth 1977542917 165,322,0882.82% 1.91% [70]
Seventh 1980529 ( 542* )4710 034,927,3422.49% 0.33% [71]
Eighth 1984541666 046,733,1172.70% 0.21% [72][73]
Ninth 19895295012 067,734,6972.57% 0.13% [74]
Tenth 19915344314 026,898,3402.48% 0.09% [75][76]
Eleventh 19965434312 026,582,2631.97% 0.51% [77]
Twelfth 19985435809 036,429,5691.75% 0.22% [78]
Thirteenth 19995435404 055,395,1191.48% 0.27% [79]
Fourteenth 20045433410 065,484,1111.41% 0.07% [80]
Fifteenth 20095435604 065,951,8881.43% 0.02% [81]
Sixteenth 20145436701 034,327,2980.78% 0.65% [82]
Seventeenth 2019 543 49 02 01 3,576,184 0.58%
0.2%		 [83][84]

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

StateNo. of candidates 2019No. of elected 2019No. of candidates 2014No. of elected 2014No. of candidates 2009No. of elected 2009Total no. of seats in the state
Andhra Pradesh201020(25)(2014)/42(2009)
Arunachal Pradesh0000002
Assam20103014
Bihar20207040
Chhattisgarh10201011
Goa0020202
Gujarat10101026
Haryana10201010
Himachal Pradesh0000004
Jammu and Kashmir0000106
Jharkhand30303014
Karnataka10301028
Kerala40414020
Madhya Pradesh40503029
Maharashtra20403048
Manipur1010102
Meghalaya0010102
Mizoram0000001
Nagaland0000001
Odisha10401121
Punjab20502013
Rajasthan30302025
Sikkim0000001
Tamil Nadu22803139
Tripura0000002
Telangana2017
Uttar Pradesh120809080
Uttarakhand0010105
West Bengal30303242
Union Territories:
Andaman and Nicobar Islands0000001
Chandigarh0000001
Dadra and Nagar Haveli0000001
Daman and Diu0000001
Delhi0010107
Lakshadweep1[85]010001
Puducherry0010001
Total:502671564543

[83][84] [86] [87]

State election results
StateNo. of candidatesNo. electedTotal no. of seats in AssemblyYear of Election
Andhra Pradesh702942019
Assam1501262016
Bihar622432020
Chhattisgarh20902018
Delhi30702020
Goa20402017
Gujarat201822017
Haryana40902019
Himachal Pradesh30682017[88]
Jammu and Kashmir30872014
Jharkhand160812019
Karnataka402242018
Kerala25191402016
Madhya Pradesh1802302018
Maharashtra1602882019
Manipur60602017
Meghalaya10602013
Mizoram00402013
Odisha1201472019
Puducherry70302016
Punjab2301172017
Rajasthan4202002018
Telangana301192018
Tamil Nadu2502342016
Tripura10602018
Uttar Pradesh6804032017
Uttarakhand40702017
West Bengal1112942016

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

Footnotes
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Further reading
  • N.E. Balaram, A Short History of the Communist Party of India. Kozikkode, Cannanore, India: Prabhath Book House, 1967.
  • John H. Kautsky, Moscow and the Communist Party of India: A Study in the Postwar Evolution of International Communist Strategy. New York: MIT Press, 1956.
  • M.R. Masani, The Communist Party of India: A Short History. New York: Macmillan, 1954.
  • Samaren Roy, The Twice-Born Heretic: M.N. Roy and the Comintern. Calcutta: Firma KLM Private, 1986.
  • Wendy Singer, "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: Manchester University Press, 1998.
  • 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.
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