Communist Party of India (Marxist)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), is a political party in India. It is strongest in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. In West Bengal and Tripura states, as of 2004, it currently holds the government. It split from the Communist Party of India in 1964 because of what it describes as the latter's revisionism and sectarianism. It claims to have 814,408 members as of 2002.

Party Organization

CPI(M) took 5.66% of vote in last parliamentary election (May 2004) and it has 43 MPs. It won 42.31% on an average in the 69 seats it contested. 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. In Kerala the party is part of Left Democratic Front. In Tamil Nadu it is part of the Progressive Democratic Alliance.

In Hindi CPI(M) is often called मार्क्सवादी कमयुनिस्त पार्टी (Marksvadi Kamyunist Party, abbreviated MaKaPa). The official party name in Hindi is however Bharat ki Kamyunist Party (Marksvadi). In Tamil the party is known as இந்திய கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சி (மார்க்சிஸ்ட்) (Intia Kamyunist Katchi (Marxist)).

Leadership

The current general secretary of CPI(M) is Prakash Karat. The CPI(M) MP Somnath Chatterjee is the speaker of the Lok Sabha (2004). The 18th party congress of CPI(M), held in Delhi April 6–11 2005 elected a Central Committee with 85 members. The CC later elected a 17-member Politburo:

• Harkishan Singh Surjeet
• Jyoti Basu
• V.S. Achuthanandan
• Prakash Karat
• Sitaram Yechury
• S. Ramachandran Pillai
• R. Umanath
• Anil Biswas
• Biman Bose
• Manik Sarkar
• Pinarai Vijayan
• M.K. Pandhe
• Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
• Chittabrata Mazumdar
• K. Varadarajan
• B.V. Raghavulu
• Brinda Karat

The principal mass organizations of CPI(M)

• Democratic Youth Federation of India
• Students Federation of India
• Centre of Indian Trade Unions
• All India Kisan Sabha (peasants' organization)
• All India Agricultural Workers Union
• All India Democratic Womens Association
• Bank Employees Federation of India
• All India Lawyers Union

In Tripura, the Ganamukti Parishad is a major mass organization.

Party Publications

From the Centre, two weekly newspapers are published, People's Democracy (English) and Lok Lehar (Hindi).

Daily Newspapers

• Ganashakti (West Bengal, Bengali)
• Deshabhimani (Kerala), Malayalam)
• Daily Desher Katha (Tripura, Bengali)
• Theekathir (Tamil Nadu, Tamil)
• Prajashakti (Andhra Pradesh, Telugu)

Weeklies

• Abshar (West Bengal, Urdu)
• Swadhintha (West Bengal, Hindi)
• Desh Hiteshi (Bengali)
• Aikya Ranga (Karnataka, Kannada)
• Jeevan Marg (Maharashtra, Marathi)
• Samyabadi (Orissa, Oriya)

Fortnightlies

• Lok Jatan (Madhya Pradesh, Hindi)
• Lok Samvad (Uttar Pradesh, Hindi)
• Sarfarosh Chintan (Gujarat, Gujarati)

Monthlies

• Shabtaab (Urdu)
• Yeh Naya Raste (Jammu & Kashmir, Urdu)
• Lok Lahar (Punjabi)
• Nandan (Bengali)

Ideological Publications

• Marxist (English)
• Marxvadi Path (Bengali)
• Chinta (Malayalam)
• Prajasakti Ideological Bulletin (Telugu)

Publishing Houses

• Leftword Books
• CPI(M) Publication
• National Book Agency (West Bengal)
• Chinta Publication (Kerala)
• Prajasakti Book House (Andhra Pradesh)
• Deshabhimani Book House (Kerala)

Splits and offshoots

A large number of parties have been formed from splits of the CPI(M), such as Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Marxist Communist Party of India, Marxist Coordination Committee in Jharkhand, Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy and Communist Marxist Party in Kerala, Party of Democratic Socialism in West Bengal, Janganotantrik Morcha in Tripura, the Ram Pasla group in Punjab, Orissa Communist Party in Orissa, etc.

Election Results

see CPI(M) election results.

External links

Articles

• Search For Ways To Keep Marx Alive Opinion on party structure by Sumanta Sen. The Telegraph Calcutta, India. March 31, 2005. Accessed April 1, 2005.

• Veteran Communists Honoured News article on Party history conference. The Hindu. April 6, 2005. Accessed April 8, 2005.

• All you wanted to know about CPI-M News article on CPI-M. Rediff News. April 8, 2005. Accessed April 8, 2005.

• An Upbeat Left by Venkitesh Ramakrishnan. Frontline Volume 22 – Issue 09, Apr. 23 – May. 06, 2005

Party related websites

• CPI(M) web site
• CPI(M) Andhra Pradesh State Committee
• People's Democracy
• Leftword Books CPI(M) publishing house
• Ganashakti
• Deshabhimani
• Prajashakti
• All India Democratic Women's Association
• Centre for Indian Trade Unions
• Democratic Youth Federation of India
• Students Federation of India, Kerala
• Students Federation of India, Jawaharlal Nehru University
• Assorted CPI(M)-related images

See also

• List of political parties in India
• Politics of India
• List of Communist Parties