Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. In the Indian communist movement there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 december 1925. But the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which is a split-off from CPI, claims that the party was founded in USSR in 1920.
| Table of contents |
|
2 Communists after Independence 3 Present situation 4 Lok Sabha Election Results 5 State Election Results 6 External links |
During the 1920s and beginning of 1930s the party was badly organized, and in practice there were several communist groups working with limited national coordination. The British colonial authorities had banned all communist activity, which made the task of building a party very difficult. Only in 1935 was the party ready to be accepted as the Indian section of the communist Third International.
I 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, the leftwing of Congress. In Kerala communists won control over CSP, and for a brief period controlled Congress there.
During the Second World War the were drastic changed for the Indian communists. After that the USSR had sided with Britain in the war, the Communist Party of India was legalized for the first time. Communists strengthened their control over the All India Trade Union Congress. At the same time, communists were politically cornered for their nonsupport to the Quit India Movement.
Mural in Thiruvanathapuram
During the period around and directly following Independence in 1947 the internal situation in the party was chaotic. The party shifted rapidly between leftist and rightist positions. 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, Tebghana and Kerala. The most important rebellion took place in Telegana, against the Nizam of Hyderabad. Communist 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 left the armed struggle. In the general elections in 1957, CPI emerged as the largest opposition party.
In 1957 CPI won the state elections in Kerala. This was the first time that a opposition party won control over an Indian state. E.M.S. Namboridipad became Chief Minister.
A serious division surged in 1962. One reason was the Indo-China border conflict, where they Soviet loyalists part of the Indian communists backed the position of the Indian government, whereas the oppositional tendency claimed that it was a conflict between a socialist and a capitalist state. The split was completed in 1964 when two parallell 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 Congress. In Kerala there was government together with Congress, with the CPI-leader Achutha Menon as Cheif Minister. After the fall of the regime of Indira Gandhi, CPI reoriented itself towards cooperation with CPI(M).
AITUC rally in [[Alappuzha
CPI is recognized by the Election Comminsion of India as a "National Party".
On the national level they support new Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, but without taking part in it.
In West Bengal and Tripura it participates in Left Front-governments. It is also taking part in the state government in Manipur. In Kerala the party is part of Left Democratic Front. In Tamil Nadu it is part of the Progressive Democratic Alliance.
The current general secretary of CPI is A.B. Bardhan.
The principal mass organizations of CPI are:
Communist during the colonial period
Communists after Independence
Present situation
Lok Sabha Election Results
| State | No. of candidates 2004 | No. of elected 2004 | No. of candidates 1999 | No. of elected 1999 | Totalt no. of seats from the state |
| Andhra Pradesh | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 42 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Assam | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| Bihar | 6 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 40 (2004)/54(1999) |
| Chhattisgarh | 1 | 0 | - | - | 11 (2004) |
| Goa | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Gujarat | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
| Haryana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Jammu och Kashmir | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Jharkhand | 1 | 1 | - | - | 14 (2004) |
| Karnataka | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Kerala | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 20 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 (2004)/40(1999) |
| Maharashtra | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 |
| Manipur | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Meghalaya | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Mizoram | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nagaland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Orissa | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 21 |
| Punjab | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Rajasthan | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 25 |
| Sikkim | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Tamil Nadu | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 39 |
| Tripura | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 6 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 80 (2004)/85 (1999) |
| Uttaranchal | 0 | 0 | - | - | 5 (2004) |
| West Bengal | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 42 |
| Unionsterritorier: | |||||
| Andaman & Nicobar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Chandigarh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Daman and Diu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Delhi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Lakshadweep | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pondicherry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total: | 34 | 10 | 54 | 4 | 543 |
| State | No. of candidates | No. of elected | Total no. of seats in Assembly | Year of Election |
| Andhra Pradesh | 12 | 6 | 294 | 2004 |
| Assam | 19 | 0 | 126 | 2001 |
| Bihar | 153 | 5 | 324 | 2000 |
| Chhattisgarh | 18 | 0 | 90 | 2003 |
| Delhi | 2 | 0 | 70 | 2003 |
| Goa | 3 | 0 | 40 | 2002 |
| Gujarat | 1 | 0 | 181 | 2002 |
| Haryana | 10 | 0 | 90 | 2000 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 7 | 0 | 68 | 2003 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 5 | 0 | 87 | 2002 |
| Karnataka | 5 | 0 | 224 | 2004 |
| Kerala | 22 | 7 | 140 | 2001 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 17 | 0 | 230 | 2003 |
| Maharashtra | 19 | 0 | 288 | 1999 |
| Manipur | 16 | 5 | 60 | 2002 |
| Meghalaya | 3 | 0 | 60 | 2003 |
| Mizoram | 4 | 0 | 40 | 2003 |
| Orissa | 6 | 1 | 147 | 2004 |
| Pondicherry | 2 | 0 | 30 | 2001 |
| Punjab | 11 | 2 | 117 | 2002 |
| Rajasthan | 15 | 0 | 200 | 2003 |
| Tamil Nadu | 8 | 5 | 234 | 2001 |
| Tripura | 2 | 1 | 60 | 2003 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 5 | 0 | 402 | 2002 |
| Uttaranchal | 14 | 0 | 70 | 2002 |
| West Bengal | 13 | 7 | 294 | 2001 |
Results from the Election Commission of India website. Results does 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: List of political parties in India, Politics of India, List of Communist Parties