The Provisional Central Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) is a communist political party in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The general secretary of the party is Santosh Rana

Santosh Rana

Santosh Rana is an Indian politician. In the 1960s, he was a firebrand figure in the armed struggle of the Naxalites led by Charu Majumdar.-Agrarian revolutionary:...

. The party is often referred to as CPI(ML) [Santosh Rana Group] or likewise.

The PCC, CPI(ML) evolved from the group loyal to Satyanarayan Singh from the original Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)

The Communist Party of India was formed by the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries at a congress in Calcutta in 1969. The foundation of the party was declared by Kanu Sanyal at a mass-meeting in Calcutta on the 22nd of April .-History:CPI advocated armed revolution and...

. Singh rebelled against the party leader Charu Majumdar

Charu Majumdar

Charu Majumdar was a communist revolutionary from India. Charu Majumdar's life is a story of "riches to rags". Born in a progressive landlord family in Siliguri in 1918, he not only dedicated his entire life to peasants' cause but also authored the historic 1968 Naxalbari uprising, the ideology...

 in 1971, provoking a split. In April 1973, Singh's party was reorganised.

Santosh Rana had broken with Charu Majumdar in 1971, and later joined Singh's group. In 1974 the Chandrapulla Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh Committee of Communist Revolutionaries

Andhra Pradesh Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (Chandra Pulla Reddy)

Andhra Pradesh Committee of Communist Revolutionaries was a communist group in Andhra Pradesh, India, led by Chandra Pulla Reddy. The group was formed through a split away from the original APCCR led by T. Nagi Reddy in 1971. In 1975 the organisation merged into the Communist Party of India led by...

 merged with Singh's CPI(ML).

When the Bihar movement was launched by Jayaprakash Narayan

Jayaprakash Narayan

Jayaprakash Narayan , widely known as JP Narayan, Jayaprakash, or Loknayak, was an Indian independence activist and political leader, remembered especially for leading the opposition to Indira Gandhi in the 1970s and for giving a call for peaceful Total Revolution...

 in 1974, Singh's CPI(ML) decided to lend support to it. Narayan had been in contact with Singh since 1968, attempting to persuade him to support non-violent agrarian reform struggles.

On July 4, 1975 the Indian government banned 27 organisations, Singh's CPI(ML) was one of them. Under the Emergency Singh's CPI(ML) formulated a three-tier united front

United front

The united front is a form of struggle that may be pursued by revolutionaries. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.According to the theses of...

 line, calling for the formation of a 'revolutionary united front' (consisting of communist revolutionaries, working towards a unified revolutionary communist party), a 'proletarian united front' based on working class struggles (and which could include the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...

 and the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)) and a 'democratic front' which would unite forces working for restoration of democratic rights. Within the framework of the 'democratic front' work, party cadres began participating in joint protests with non-left opposition groups at the time.

After the defeat of Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...

 in the 1977 Lok Sabha elections

Indian general election, 1977

India held general elections to the 6th Lok Sabha. This sixth general elections, which were conducted for 542 seats from 542 constituencies, represented 27 Indian states and union territories. These 542 constituencies were remain same till Indian general elections, 2004 for the 14th Lok Sabha.The...

, the situation for the party was relaxed somewhat. Singh asserted that although the class character of the new Janata Party government was the same as the Gandhi government, he appreciated differences like improvement of civil liberties and weakening of Soviet influence. On April 9, 1977 S.N. Singh signed an appeal along with Khokan Majumder (Unity Committee, CPI(ML)), Suniti Kumar Ghosh (COC, CPI(ML)) and Apurba Roy (UCCRI(ML)), calling for the unconditional release of 12 000 revolutionary prisoners. During the anti-Emergency struggle, the Janata Party had promised to release political prisoners. Once in power however, they had back-tracked on that promise. Singh was involved in negotiations to secure the release of prisoners.

Singh's CPI(ML) was the first major ML-factions that opened up for participating in elections, which became a controversial issue. On April 10, 1977 Singh declared the willingness to contest elections at a press conference. The Calcutta District committee denounced the move. Other ML-factions saw as the new line as treachery. In 197] Santosh Rana was elected to the West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

 state assembly from the Gopiballavpur

Gopiballavpur

Gopiballavpur is a town in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. Gopiballavpur–I and Gopiballavpur–II are two community development blocks under the Jhargram subdivision of the district.-History:...

 constituency (one of the areas were CPI(ML) had started armed struggle following the model of the Naxalbari

Naxalbari

Naxalbari is the name of a village and a community development block in northern part of the state of West Bengal, India. Naxalbari block comes under the jurisdiction of Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district. Naxalbari became famous for the left wing revolt that took place in the late...

 uprising). Rana got 13401 votes (25,67%), which was enough to defeat the CPI(M), Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 and Janata Party

Janata Party

The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...

 candidates. Singh's CPI(ML) were also able to register the party name Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) with the Election Commission of India, but the registration was later lost.

Around 1980 Singh's group appeared as the strongest ML-faction, but with the exit of Chandrapulla Reddy and other splits the party shrunk. In 1984 a severe split occurred, with the loyalists of Singh opposed to the group of Santosh Rana and Vaskar Nandy. The Singh faction levelled the following accusation: "In our organisation also, Nandy’s close associates established contacts with a foreign voluntary agency and a native voluntary agency financed by Western monopoly capital, keeping it secret from the POC and the general secretary of the party, S N Singh. They established contact with Rural Aid Consortium of Tagore Society which is financed by West European countries and the USA and with one Danish Organisation on the Plea of providing relief to the people of Gobiballabpur in West Bengal and some areas in Bihar. Lakhs of rupees were received for digging tanks, constructing school building opening a sewing training center and distributing chickens and cattle to the needy. It also came to our notice that money was being received by some of our leaders from the Lutheran Church. When it came to light to the PCC members, an intense ideological struggle burst forth in the party on this issue." (Our differences with Nandy-Rana group, PCC-CPI(ML), p. 29)

The group of Rana came to win a majority in the leadership (the provisional central committee) and Singh's followers formed a new committee (and de facto a new party). Singh died shortly afterwards.

Rana's group differentiates themselves from other ML-factions through their emphasis on antifascism. Rana considers the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party

Bharatiya Janata Party

The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...

 (BJP) as a fascist danger for India. PCC, CPI(ML) gives the advice to their followers to vote for parties like [CPI(M) or even the Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 in constituencies were no revolutionary communist candidate is available.

Ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...

 elections the party participated in the united front of revolutionary communists initiated by Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Red Flag

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Red Flag

Communist Party of India Red Flag was a political party in India. CPI Red Flag was formed in 1988 as a break-away from the Central Reorganization Committee, CPI. The party's main base of support was in Kerala, where it emerged as the major ML faction...

 and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Kanu Sanyal)

Communist Party of India is a communist party in India. The party is one of many working under the name of CPI. The party general secretary was Kanu Sanyal...

.

In the Bodo

Bodo

- Locations :* Bodø, A city in Norway*Bodo, Alberta, a hamlet in Central Alberta, Canada, close to the Saskatchewan border.*Bodo , a town and commune in Côte d'Ivoire*BoDo, a district of Boise, ID; the name of which stems from Boise Downtown....

-dominated areas in Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

, the party works through a mass organization called United Reservation Movement Council of Assam. PCC, CPI(ML) and URMCA are opponents of the Bodo nationalist movements. In the Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...

 elections in 2004 the URMCA candidate in Kokrajhar

Kokrajhar

Kokrajhar is a city in Bodoland Territorial Council, Assam, one of the North East States and territories of India.Kokrajhar city is located along the bank of Gourang River. The North East Indian Railways divides the city into two sides, north and the south...

got 205 491 votes (21,25%). In the 1999 election the URMCA candidate had gotten 246 942 votes (27,75%) in the same constituency.

PCC, CPI(ML) publishes For a New Democracy as its central organ. The editor-in-chief is Vaskar Nandy.

External links

• The Fascist Danger and our Tasks, PCC, CPI(ML) document from 1998.