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Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation | |
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_Liberation_logo.png){kind=logo} | |
| Abbreviation | CPI(ML), CPI-ML, CPIML(L), CPI-ML(L), CPIML Liberation |
| General Secretary | Dipankar Bhattacharya |
| Founder | Subrata Dutta Vinod Mishra |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Preceded by | Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) |
| Headquarters | Charu Bhawan, U-90, Shakarpur, Delhi-110092 |
| Newspaper | Liberation (English) Deshabrati (Bengali) |
| Student wing | All India Students Association |
| Youth wing | Revolutionary Youth Association |
| Women's wing | All India Progressive Women's Association |
| Labour wing |
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| Peasant's wing | All India Kisan Mahasabha |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Colours | Red |
| ECI Status | State Party[2] |
| Alliance | Mahagathbandhan (Bihar) (2015–present)
Mahagathbandhan (Jharkhand) (2019–present) |
| Seats in Lok Sabha | 2 / 543 |
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | 0 / 245 |
| Seats in Bihar Legislative Assembly | 12 / 243 |
| Seats in Jharkhand Legislative Assembly | 1 / 81 |
| Number of states and union territories in government | 1 / 31 |
| Election symbol | |
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| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| cpiml | |
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The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation (CPI(ML)L) is a communist political party in India.[3] The party is represented in Bihar and Jharkhand Legislative Assemblies. Since 2023, the party is also a member of the INDIA electoral alliance.[4] In Bihar, the party has significant base amongst the Extremely Backward Castes and the Schedule Castes. It was successful in mobilising Upper Backward Caste groups such as Koeris in some districts of central Bihar, prior to the rise of Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party faced existential crisis when a large section of its Koeri and Yadav support base was defected to Rashtriya Janata Dal in 1990s. However, the ideological commitment of its cadre protected it from disintegration.[5] It staged a comeback in politics after winning twelve seats in Bihar Legislative Assembly in 2020 and by sending two of its members to Lok Sabha in 2024 Indian general elections.[6]
History
In 1973, the original Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) split, with one group led by Sharma and another by Mahadev Mukherjee. Vinod Mishra initially belonged to Mukherjee's party, but he and the Burdwan Regional Committee broke with Mukherjee in September 1973. Mishra sought contact with the Sharma group, but the Burdwan Regional Committee was later divided and Mishra denounced the political line of Sharma (a critique, which amongst other things, called for the formation of open mass organizations, a move that almost constituted a heresy in the CPI (ML) movement at the time).[7]
In 1974, Mishra came into contact with Subrata Dutta (Jauhar), a leader of armed struggle in the plain areas of Bihar. On 28 July 1974 (the second death anniversary of Charu Majumdar), a new party Central Committee was formed with Jauhar as General Secretary and Mishra and Swadesh Bhattacharya (Raghu) as members.[7] The reorganized party became known as the 'anti-Lin Biao' group (whilst the faction of Mahadev Mukherjee constituted the 'pro-Lin Biao' group).[8] The anti-Lin Biao group became known as the CPIML Liberation.[9]
Mishra served as West Bengal secretary of the new party organization. Under Mishra's leadership new dalams (guerilla squads) were formed.
In November 1975, Jauhar was killed during Lal Sena activities. Mishra became the new party General Secretary in a reorganized five-member Central Committee. Mishra organized a second party congress, held clandestinely in the rural areas of Gaya district in February 1976. The congress unanimously re-elected Mishra as General Secretary.[7]
Reorientation and rectification
Mishra was the political architect of the process of re-orientation of CPIML Liberation.[7] By 1976 the party had adopted a position that armed struggle would be combined with building a broad anti-Congress democratic front movement.[9] The process was further elaborated through an internal rectification process initiated in late 1977. Party study circles and party schools were started from central to the block level of the party structure. The theory of two line tactics started to develop.
In 1981, the party tried to unify the other splintered ML factions. The party organised a unity meeting with 13 ML factions to form a unified leading core. However, the initiative was a failure.
The IPF
In the early 1980s, CPIML Liberation began building an open non-party mass movement (in direct to the original policy of CPI (ML)), the Indian People's Front (founded in April 1982). Nagbhushan Patnaik became the president of IPF. The construction of IPF, through which the underground party could develop links to other democratic forces on the basis of a popular, democratic and patriotic programme, was based on interventions by Mishra.[7] However, although Mishra broke with the dogmas of the early CPI (ML), he never renounced Charu Majumdar's legacy.[8]
In the third party congress, it was decided that IPF will participate in parliamentary elections. In 1989, IPF's Rameshwar Prasad won the loksabha seat from Ara (Bhojpur). In 1990, IPF won seven seats from Bihar Legislative Assembly. Special initiatives taken for restructuring the party and open up. IPF hold its first rally on 8 October 1990 in Delhi.
CPIML's mass base in the state of Bihar was among the members of Extremely Backward and Schedule Castes and it was initially unable to draw support for its activities from the upper backward castes. It was, however successful in mobilising the Koeris in the regions like Arrah, Rohtas, Patna and Aurangabad. This success remained temporary as with the formation of Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Koeri and Yadav support base of CPIML increasingly shifted its loyalty to the RJD. This was because plum posts in the party was offered by RJD to those detecting from the CPIML. During this period four legislators associated with Indian People's Front, the open mass organisation of CPIML defected to the RJD. These were Shri Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha, K.D Yadav, Umesh Singh and Suryadev Singh. However, the party was saved from complete ruin by the presence of top leadership which was ideologically committed and belonged to social groups such as non -Yadav Other Backward Castes.[5]
The ASDC
In 1985, the party launched People's democratic Front (PDF) in Karbi Anglong district of Assam which won a seat in state assembly. In 1987 PDF was transformed to Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC). A sustained mass movement by ASDC help it to sweep district council elections in 1989. In 1981, ASDC's Jayanta Rongpi became an MP in Parliament. In 1996, ASDC was able to send its five-member group in Assam assembly as MLA.
In 1992, after the Fifth party congress (Held in Kolkata), the party comes out in the open from its underground status.[3] Mishra was re-elected General Secretary of the party at the sixth congress of CPIML Liberation in Varanasi in October 1997.[7]
Present
The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (Liberation), led by Dipankar Bhattacharya is a surviving faction of the CPI (M-L).[10] Liberation has established legal overground structures (trade unions, student groups, peasant organisations etc.) and participates in elections. In the Lok Sabha elections in 1999 the party won 0.3% of the votes and one seat (the former ASDC-seat from Assam). In the 2004 elections the seat was lost, mainly due to a split within ASDC. As of 2016, the party has been able to send its representatives to the state legislative assemblies of Bihar and Jharkhand as well as the panchayats of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Punjab.
In November 2020, it won 12 seats in Bihar's election.[11] The legislators elected in this election to Bihar Legislative Assembly are: