POLITICAL PARTIES IN INDIA

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1) INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

The Indian National Congress (INC, often called the Congress Party or simply Congress) is a broadly based political party in India. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa. From the late 19th century, and especially after 1920, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, Congress became the principal leader of the Indian independence movement. Congress led India to independence from Great Britain, and powerfully influenced other anti-colonial nationalist movements in the British Empire.[

Congress is a secular party whose social democratic platform is generally considered to be on the centre-left of Indian politics.Congress’ social policy is based upon the Gandhian principle of Sarvodaya—the lifting up of all sections of society—which involves the improvement of the lives of economically underprivileged and socially marginalised people.[21][22] The party primarily endorses social democracy—seeking to balance individual liberty and social justice, welfare and secularism—asserting the right to be free from religious rule and teachings.[citation needed] Its constitution states democractic socialism to be its ideal.[

After India’s independence in 1947, Congress formed the central government of India, and many regional state governments.[24]Congress became India’s dominant political party; as of 2015, in the 15 general elections since independence, it has won an outright majority on six occasions and has led the ruling coalition a further four times, heading the central government for 49 years. There have been seven Congress Prime Ministers, the first being Jawaharlal Nehru (1947–1964), and the most recent Manmohan Singh (2004–2014). Although it did not fare well in the last general elections in India in 2014, it remains one of two major, nationwide, political parties in India, along with the right-wing, Hindu nationalist, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).[In the 2014 general election, Congress had its poorest post-independence general election performance, winning only 44 seats of the 543-member Lok Sabha.

From 2004 to 2014, United Progressive Alliance, a coalition of Congress with several regional parties, formed the Indian government led by Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister as the head of the coalition government. The leader of the party during the period, Sonia Gandhi has served the longest term as the president of the party. As of December 2018, the party is in power in six legislative assemblies: Karnataka (in an alliance with the JD(S)), Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and the union territory of Puducherry (in an alliance with the DMK).

2)BHARTIYA JANATA PARTY

The Bharatiya Janata Party ( translation: Indian People’s Party; abbr. BJP) is one of the two major political parties in India, along with the Indian National Congress. As of 2018, it is the country’s largest political party in terms of representation in the national parliament and state assemblies, and it is the world’s largest party in terms of primary membership. BJP is a right-wing party, and its policy has historically reflected Hindu nationalist positions.[ It has close ideological and organisational links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The BJP’s origin lies in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, formed in 1951 by Syama Prasad Mukherjee.[ After the State of Emergency in 1977, the Jana Sangh merged with several other parties to form the Janata Party; it defeated the incumbent Congress party in the 1977 general election. After three years in power, the Janata party dissolved in 1980 with the members of the erstwhile Jana Sangh reconvening to form the BJP. Although initially unsuccessful, winning only two seats in the 1984 general election, it grew in strength on the back of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Following victories in several state elections and better performances in national elections, the BJP became the largest party in the parliament in 1996; however, it lacked a majority in the lower house of Parliament, and its government lasted only 13 days.

After the 1998 general election, the BJP-led coalition known as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee formed a government that lasted for a year. Following fresh elections, the NDA government, again headed by Vajpayee, lasted for a full term in office; this was the first non-Congress government to do so. In the 2004 general election, the NDA suffered an unexpected defeat, and for the next ten years the BJP was the principal opposition party. Long time Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi led it to a landslide victory in the 2014 general election. Since that election, Modi has led the NDA government as Prime Minister and as of February 2019, the alliance governs 18 states.

The official ideology of the BJP is “integral humanism“, first formulated by Deendayal Upadhyaya in 1965. The party expresses a commitment to Hindutva, and its policy has historically reflected Hindu nationalist positions. The BJP advocates social conservatismand a foreign policy centred on nationalist principles. Its key issues have included the abrogation of the special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the building of a Ram temple in Ayodhya and the implementation of a uniform civil code. However, the 1998–2004 NDA government did not pursue any of these controversial issues. It instead focused on a largely liberal economic policy prioritising globalisation and economic growth over social welfare.

3)BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a national political party in India. By vote share in the 2014 general election, it is India’s third-largest national party, though it did not win any seats in the Lok Sabha.[7] It was formed to represent Bahujans (literally “people in majority”), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes (OBC), along with religious minorities. According to Kanshi Ram, when he founded the party in 1984, the Bahujans comprised 85 percent of India’s population, but were divided into 6,000 different castes.[8][9] The party claims to be inspired by the philosophy of Gautama Buddha, B. R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Narayana Guru, Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj.[10] Kanshi Ram named his protégée Mayawati as his successor in 2001.

The BSP has its main base in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections, BSP was the second-largest party, with over 22% of votes despite winning only 19 seats.[11] It has an elephant as its election symbol. The BSP has no separate youth wing ; instead at least 50 percent of its organizational structure is from the youth.[12] BSP has no social media accounts or website.[13] Sudhindra Bhadoria, a senior party leader, is the only official spokesperson of the BSP.[14]Influential figures

Jyotirao Phule, an Indian activist, thinker, social reformer from Maharashtra. He fought for the eradication of untouchability and the caste system, women’s emancipation and the reform of Hindu family life. He also formed the Satyashodhak Samaj (Society of Seekers of Truth) to attain equal rights for peasants and people from lower castes.

B. R. Ambedkar, chief architect of Indian Constitution and first law minister of India who campaigned against untouchability, caste system and also campaigned for the rights of women and laborers.

Narayana Guru (ca. 1854 – 20 September 1928), was a social reformer of India. He was born into a family of the Ezhava caste in an era when people from such communities, which were regarded as Avarna, faced much injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala. He led a reform movement in Kerala, rejected casteism, and promoted new values of spiritual freedom and social equality.

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, an Indian social activist, freedom fighter and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement. He is known as the ‘Father of modern Tamil Nadu’. He has done exemplary works against Brahminical dominance, caste prevalence and women oppression in Tamil Nadu.

Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj was of Indian princely state of Kolhapur. He worked tirelessly for the cause of the lower caste subjects in his state. Primary education to all regardless of caste and creed was one of his most significant priorities.

4)NATIONLIST CONGRESS PARTY

History

The NCP was formed on 25 May 1999, by Sharad Pawar, P. A. Sangma, and Tariq Anwar after they were expelled from the Indian National Congress (INC) on 20 May 1999, for disputing the right of Italian-born Sonia Gandhi to lead the party. At the time of formation of the NCP, the Indian Congress (Socialist) party merged with the new party. Despite the NCP being founded on opposition to the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, it has joined the Congress led UPA to form government on numerous occasions at the State level as well at the National level. On 20 June 2012, P. A. Sangma quit the NCP to contest in presidential polls.[9] Like the Indian National Congress, dynastic politics are prevalent in the NCP.[

Party symbol

The Election Symbol of NCP is an analogue clock that reads 10:10. The clock is drawn in blue and has two legs and an alarm button. It is situated on a tri-coloured Indian flag.[

Presence in various states

The party’s primary base is the states of Maharashtra and Meghalaya. Beyond these two, the party has nominal presence in other states of India.[

Electoral Performance

Lok Sabha Elections

Lok Sabha TermIndian
General Election		Seats
contested		Seats
won		Votes Polled% of
votes		% of votes in
seats contested		State (seats)
13th Lok Sabha1999132882,60,3112.279.52Maharashtra (6)
Manipur (1)
Meghalay (1)
14th Lok Sabha200432970,23,1751.80Maharashtra (9)
15th Lok Sabha200968985,21,5021.192.04Maharashtra (8) Meghalay (1)
16th Lok Sabha201436686,35,5581.56Bihar (1)
Lakshadweep(1)
Maharashtra (4)
17th Lok Sabha2019TBATBATBALakshdweep()
Maharashtra()
Manipur()

Vidhan Sabha Elections

Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha TermMaharashtra
General Election		Seats
contested		Seats
won		Votes Polled% of
votes		% of votes in
seats contested
10th Vidhan Sabha19992235874,25,42722.6029.19
11th Vidhan Sabha20041247178,41,96218.7542.72
12th Vidhan Sabha20091136274,20,21216.3740.27
13th Vidhan Sabha20142784191,22,28517.2417.96

5)SAMAJWADI PARTY

Samajwadi Party (SP ; translation: Socialist Party, founded 4 October 1992) is a political party in India headquartered in New Delhi. It is a state party based in Uttar Pradesh, it describes itself as a democratic socialist party.[12]

The Samajwadi Party was one of several parties that emerged when the Janata Dal (People’s League) fragmented into several regional parties. The Samajwadi Party is led by former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav after he was chosen the President by the National Convention held on 1 January 2017.

The Samajwadi Party is primarily based in Uttar Pradesh State. It has contested Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections around the country, though its successes have been mainly in Uttar Pradesh.In the 2012 legislative assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh, SP registered a landslide victory with a clear majority in the House, thus enabling it to form the government in the state. This was expected to be the fifth term of Mulayam Singh Yadav as Chief Minister of state, but he surprised everyone by selecting his son, Akhilesh Yadav, to be the new chief minister (the youngest ever). It became official on 15 March. It was also the first time that SP was head of the UP government for a full term of 5 years.[13][14].

6)COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA

Formation

The Communist Party of India has officially stated that it was formed on 26 December 1925 at the first Party Conference in Kanpur, then Cawnpore. But as per the version of CPI(M), the Communist Party of India was founded in Tashkent, Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 17 October 1920, soon after the Second Congress of the Communist International. The founding members of the party were M.N. Roy, Evelyn Trent Roy (Roy’s wife), Abani Mukherji, Rosa Fitingof (Abani’s wife), Mohammad Ali (Ahmed Hasan), Mohammad Shafiq Siddiqui, Hasrat Mohani, Rafiq Ahmed of Bhopal and M.P.T. Aacharya, and Sultan Ahmed Khan Tarin of North-West Frontier Province.[ The CPI says that there were many communist groups formed by Indians with the help of foreigners in different parts of the world and the Tashkent group was only one of. contacts with Anushilan and Jugantar groups in Bengal. Small communist groups were formed in Bengal (led by Muzaffar Ahmed), Bombay (led by S.A. Dange), Madras (led by Singaravelu Chettiar), United Provinces (led by Shaukat Usmani) and Punjab and Sindh (led by Ghulam Hussain). However, only Usmani became a CPI party member.

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 coordination. 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.[

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.[ 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.[9] 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 unified CPI.[10] 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.[11]

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’.[12]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 utilize the contradictions between the national bourgeoisie and the British imperialists.[13] 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.[14]

Portrait of 25 of Meerut Prisoners taken outside the jail. Backrow:(left to right) K.N. Sehgal, S.S. Josh, H.L. Hutchinson, Shaukat Usmani, B.F. Bradly, A. Prasad, Philip Spratt, and G. Adhikari. Middle Row: K.R. Mitra, Gopan Chakravarthy, Kishore Lal Ghosh, K.L. Kadam, D.R. Thengdi, Goura Shanker, S. Banerjee, K.N. Joglekar, Puran Chand Joshi, and Muzaffar Ahmed. Front Row: M.G. Desai, G. Goswami, R.S. Nimkar, S.S. Mirajkar, S.A. Dange, G.V. Ghate and 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.[15][16]

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.[17]

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.[

When Indian leftwing elements formed the Congress Socialist Party in 1934, the CPI branded it as Social Fascist.[

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.[

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.[20]

In July 1937, the first Kerala unit of CPI was founded at a clandestine meeting in Calicut. 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 latter, Ghate, was a CPI Central Committee member, who had arrived from Madras.[21] 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.[17]

In 1936–1937, the cooperation between socialists and communists reached its peak. At the 2nd congress of the CSP, held in Meerutin January 1936, a thesis was adopted which declared that there was a need to build ‘a united Indian Socialist Party based on Marxism-Leninism‘.[ At the 3rd CSP congress, held in Faizpur, several communists were included into the CSP National Executive Committee.

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.[

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.[

In July 1942, the CPI was legalised, as a result of Britain and the Soviet Union becoming allies against Nazi Germany.[25]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.[26]

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.]The conference adopted the ‘Programme of Democratic Revolution’. This programme included the first mention of struggle against caste injustice in a CPI document.

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.[citation needed] 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.[29] At the 1951 congress of the party, ‘People’s Democracy’ was substituted by ‘National Democracy’ as the main slogan of the party.[30]

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 Sahjanand Saraswati and Karyanand Sharma, intellectual giants like Jagannath Sarkar, Yogendra Sharma and Indradeep Sinha, mass leaders like Chandrashekhar 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 unorganized 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. (Note – At this time, there was no CPI(M) and both were united)

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 rose to be General Secretary of the Communist Party of India.

In the Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly election, 1952, Communist Party was banned, so it couldn’t take part in the election process.[31] 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.[32]

Ideological differences lead 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). There is a common misconception that the rift during the Sino-Indian war, when Communist Party Of India proudly supported China in the war led to the 1962 split.[citation needed] In fact, the split was leftists vs rightists, rather than internationalists vs nationalists.[citation needed] The presence of nationalists in CPI, and internationalists P. Sundarayya, Jyoti Basu, and Harkishan Singh Surjeet in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) proves this fact.

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 cooperation with CPI(M).

In 1986, the CPI’s leader in the Punjab and MLA in the Punjabi legislature Darshan Singh Canadian was assassinated by Sikh extremists. Then on 19 May 1987, Deepak Dhawan, General Secretary of Punjab CPI(M), was murdered. Altogether about 200 communist leaders out of which most were Sikhs were killed by Sikh extremists in Punjab.[citation needed]

Present situation

  State/s with a chief minister from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M).  State/s which had a chief minister from the CPI-M.  State/s which had chief ministers from both the CPI-M and the Communist Party of India (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 recognized 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 Indian general election, 2014 where the party saw its tally reduce to 1 MP, the Election Commission of India has sent a letter to CPI asking for reasons why its national party status should not be revoked.[33][34][35][36][37] 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, Prakash Karat, General Secretary of CPI(M) 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.[38]

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 S. Sudhakar Reddy.

The principal mass organisations of the CPI are: