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Communist Party of India (Marxist), West Bengal

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), West Bengal is the West Bengal state wing of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a recognised national party. The party has been the longest formally the governing party in West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 1977 to 2011 and has significant representation of the state in Rajya Sabha.[2] It leads the Left Front and Secular Democratic Alliance along with Indian National Congress.

Communist Party of India (Marxist), West Bengal
ভারতীয় সাম্যবাদী দল (মার্ক্সবাদী), পশ্চিমবঙ্গ
Bhartiya Samyavadi Dal, Paschim Banga
AbbreviationCPIMWB
General SecretaryMd. Salim
Governing bodyPolit Bureau
Founded7 November 1964 (60 years ago) (1964-11-07)
Split fromCommunist Party of India, West Bengal
HeadquartersAlimuddin Street, Calcutta, Bengal
NewspaperGanashakti
Student wingStudents Federation, West Bengal
Youth wingDemocratic Youth Federation, West Bengal
Women's wingDemocratic Women's Association, West Bengal
Membership (2021)Decrease 160,827
IdeologyCommunism
Marxism-Leninism
Historical:
Bengali nationalism[1] (until 2021)
Political positionLeft-wing
National affiliationIndian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance
Regional affiliationSecular Democratic Alliance
International affiliationIMCWP
Colors  Red
Sloganলাল সেলাম
("Lal salam")
Anthem"The Internationale"
Lok Sabha
1 / 42
Rajya Sabha
1 / 16
West Bengal Legislative Assembly
0 / 294
Gorkhaland Territorial Administration
6 / 50
Gram Panchayats
5,922 / 63,229
Panchayat Samitis
489 / 9,730
Zilla Parishads
16 / 928
Municipalities
2 / 108
Election symbol
Party flag
Website
cpimwb.org.in

History

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Formation of CPI(M)

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In the following period the Communist Party underwent a vertical a split in the Communist Party of India in 1964 with a section of the party including Muzaffar Ahmad, Jyoti Basu, Promode Dasgupta and Hare Krishna Konar going on to form the Communist Party of India (Marxist). There were several ongoing ideological conflicts between sections within the Communist Party about the nature of the Indian State and the characterisation and method of interaction with the Indian National Congress, about the approach towards the ongoing debate between the Soviet Union and China and with regards to the handling of the border disputes between India and China.

 
Basu, Ranadive, Mukherjee, Basavapunnaiah, and Konar in the conference of AIKS held in Barsul, West Bengal in 1969

These debates were further exacerbated by the food movement in West Bengal and brought to the forefront by the rising border tensions between India and China.[3] The Communist Party had also become the second largest party in the Lok Sabha following the 1962 Indian general election with nearly 10% vote share which is described to have brought prominence to the internal divisions of the party.[4]

In the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election of 1967, fourteen opposition parties contested through two pre-poll political alliances;[5] the CPI-M led United Left Front and the CPI and Bangla Congress (splinter of the Congress party formed in 1966) led People's United Left Front.[6] The CPI-M became the second largest party outstripping its former party, the CPI.

Basu Era (1977-2000)

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For the 1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, negotiations between the Janata Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) broke down.[7] This led to a three sided contest between the Indian National Congress, the Janata Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) led Left Front coalition. The results of the election was a surprising sweep for the Left Front winning 230 seats out of 290 with the CPI-M winning an absolute majority on its own, Jyoti Basu became the chief minister of West Bengal.

 
Jyoti Basu, during the inaugural ceremony of Science City, Kolkata
 
Vladimir Lenin statue in Kolkata

The state saw rapid developments in this period, with the Land Reforms and the Panchayat System being two of the many notable ones. In this time, the state had become one of the leaders in agricultural output, being the leading producer of rice and the second leading producer of potatoes.[8] In the first term of the coming to power, the Left Front government under Basu initiated a number of agrarian and institutional reforms which resulted in reduction of poverty rates, an exponential rise in agricultural production and decrease in political polarisation.[9][10][11] It also enabled the large scale adoption of technological advancements which had earlier been brought in through the Green Revolution in India in the 1960s.[9][10] The agricultural growth jumped from an annual average of 0.6% between 1970–1980 to over 7% between 1980–1990 and the state was described as an agricultural success story of the 1980s.[10][12] During this period, the state of West Bengal moved from being a food importer to a food exporter and became the largest producer of rice outstripping the states of Andhra Pradesh and Punjab which had previously held the status.[12] The Human Development Index was also noted to have improved at a much faster rate than in other states, growing from being the lowest in the country in 1975 to above the national average in 1990.[13]

Buddhadeb Era (2000-2011)

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The Chief Minister of West Bengal Shri Buddhadev Bhattacharya felicitating legendary footballer Shri Sailen Manna during the inauguration of the ONGC Cup 10th National Football League Tournament at Yuba Bharati Krirangan in

In 2000, Jyoti Basu resigned as the chief minister. He was succeeded by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.[14] Unlike other orthodox leaders, Buddhadeb was more open to market and technological reforms. He attempted to industrialize West Bengal by bringing a Tata motors plant in Singur but this erupted a huge controversy. Buddhadeb's government requested farmers to give the land, which sparked huge protests. Later Tata Group ultimately backed out of the project. There was also violence in Nandigram as well, in which many protesters died due to police firing.[15]

Violence, economic stagnation, the surge of Mamata Banerjee and her TMC led to the decline of support of Buddhadeb and the CPI(M), even among the core voters like peasants and workers. A demand for change started, which eventually led to the fall of the 34-years long Left Front government in 2011.

Out of power and decline (2011-Present)

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Structure and composition

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Jyoti Basu, longest serving chief minister of West Bengal

List of state secretaries

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No Portrait Secretary Term Total years as secretary
1 Promode Dasgupta 1964 - 1982 18 Years
2   Saroj Mukherjee 1982 - 1990 8 Years
3   Sailen Dasgupta 1991 – 1998 7 Years
4 Anil Biswas 1998 - 2006 8 Years
5   Biman Bose 2006 - 2015 9 Years
6   Surjya Kanta Mishra 2015 - 2022 7 Years
7   Mohammed Salim 2022–present Incumbent

Current state committee members

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No Secretary
1 Mohammed Salim
2 Sujan Chakraborty
3 Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya
4 Samik Lahiri
5 Deblina Hembram
6 Pulin Bihari Baske
7 Saman Pathak
8 Anwarul Haque
9 Goutam Ghosh
10 Shyamali Pradhan
11 Alakesh Das
12 Minakshi Mukherjee
13 Sushanta Ghosh
14 Pradip Sarkar
15 Shaikh Ibrahim
16 Shatarup Ghosh
17 Srijan Bhattacharyya
18 Amiya Patra
19 Ram Chandra Dome
20 Abhas Roy Choudhury
21 Anadi Sahoo
22 Kallol Majumdar
23 Sumit De
24 Palash Das
25 Amal Halder
26 Sukhendu Panigrahi
27 Jibesh Sarkar
28 Debasish Chakrabarty
29 Rama Biswas
30 Achintya Mallick

List of Chief Minister's from CPI(M) in West Bengal

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Main article: List of chief ministers of West Bengal
No. Name Portrait Term of office Days in office
1 Jyoti Basu   21 June 1977 23 May 1982 23 years 137 days
24 May 1982 29 March 1987
30 March 1987 18 June 1991
19 June 1991 15 May 1996
16 May 1996 5 November 2000
2 Buddhadeb Bhattacharya   6 November 2000 14 May 2001 10 years 188 days
15 May 2001 17 May 2006
18 May 2006 13 May 2011

Results in West Bengal State Assembly elections

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Main article: Elections in West Bengal
Election Year Party leader Overall votes % of overall votes Total seats seats won/
seats contensted 		+/- in seats +/- in vote share Sitting side
As Communist Party of India (Marxist)
1967
 Jyoti Basu 2,293,026 18.11% 280
43 / 135
 new new Opposition
1969
 2,676,981 20.00% 280
80 / 190
   37   1.9% Opposition
1971
 N/A 27.45% 294
113 / 200
   33 N/A Opposition
1972
 5,080,828 27.45% 294
14 / 209
   99 N/A Opposition
1977
 5,080,828 35.46% 294
178 / 224
   164   8.01 Government
1982
 8,655,371 38.49% 294
174 / 209
   4   3.03 Government
1987
 10,285,723 39.12% 294
187 / 212
   13   0.89 Government
1991
 11,418,822 36.87% 294
182 / 204
   2   2.43 Government
1996
 13,670,198 37.16% 294
153 / 213
   32   1.05 Government
2001
 Buddhadeb Bhattacharya 13,402,603 36.59% 294
143 / 211
   14   1.33 Government
2006
 14,652,200 37.13% 294
176 / 212
   33   0.54 Government
2011
 14,330,061 30.08% 294
40 / 213
   136   7.05 Opposition
2016
 Surjya Kanta Mishra 10,802,058 19.75% 294
26 / 148
   14   10.35 Opposition
2021
 2,837,276 4.73% 294
0 / 136
   26   15.02 —

Results of Indian general elections in West Bengal

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Election Year Overall Votes % of overall votes Total seats Seats won/
Seats contested 		+/- in seats +/- in vote share
As Communist Party of India (Marxist)
1967 2,012,522 15.6 % 40
5 / 16
 New New
1971 4,485,105 34.3 %
20 / 38
   15   18.7
1977 3,839,091 26.1 % 42
17 / 20
   3   8.2%
1980 8,199,926 39.9 %
28 / 31
   11   13.8%
1984 9,119,546 35.9 %
18 / 31
   10   4%
1989 12,150,017 38.4 %
27 / 31
   9   2.5%
1991 10,934,583 35.2 %
27 / 30
     3.2%
1996 13,467,522 36.7 %
23 / 31
   4   1.5%
1998 12,931,639 35.4 %
24 / 32
   1   1.3%
1999 12,553,991 35.6 %
21 / 32
   3   0.2%
2004 14,271,042 38.6%
26 / 32
   5   3.0%
2009 14,144,667 33.1 %
9 / 32
   17   5.5%
2014 11,720,997 23.0%
2 / 32
   7   10.1%
2019 3,594,283 6.3 %
0 / 31
   2   16.7%
2024 3,416,941 5.7 %
0 / 23
     0.6%

CPI(M) in West Bengal Municipal Corporations

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Corporation Election Year Seats won/
Total seats 		Per. of votes Sitting side
Asansol Municipal Corporation 2022
2 / 106
 1.89% Opposition
Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation 2022
0 / 41
 10.95% —
Chandernagore Municipal Corporation 2022
2 / 33
 26.40% Main Opposition
Howrah Municipal Corporation 2013
2 / 66
 N/A Opposition
Kolkata Municipal Corporation 2021
1 / 144
 9.65% Opposition
Siliguri Municipal Corporation 2022
4 / 47
 14.41% Opposition

CPI(M) in West Bengal Local Elections

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Election Year Gram Panchayats won Panchayat Samitis Zilla Parishads Per. of votes
2018
1,483 / 63,229
110 / 9,730
1 / 928
 6%
2023
3,242 / 63,229
196 / 9,730
2 / 928
 14%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ https://x.com/BanglaPokkho/status/1250018041498177538?t=tgVZlvuS6XufOWx7Wv-iMw&s=19
  2. ^ Bhaumik, Subir (2011-05-13). "Defeat rocks India's elected communists - Features". Al Jazeera English. Archived from the original on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
  3. ^ Doctor, Vikram (7 October 2012). "1962 India-China war: Why India needed that jolt". The Economic Times.
  4. ^ "General Election, 1962 (Vol I, II)". Election Commission of India.
  5. ^ Chaudhuri, Amiya Kumar (1993). "Control, Politics and Perspective of a State Legislature". The Indian Journal of Political Science. 54 (1): 98–102. ISSN 0019-5510. JSTOR 41855642.
  6. ^ Mayers, James (8 May 2007). "Economic reform and the urban/rural divide: Political realignment in West Bengal 1977–2000". South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. 24 (1). Taylor & Francis: 20–23. doi:10.1080/00856400108723422. ISSN 0085-6401. S2CID 145773403.
  7. ^ Mahaprashasta, Ajoy Ashirwad (4 May 2016). "Why Has Nobody Called It Yet? An Analysis of the West Bengal Elections". The Wire.
  8. ^ West Bengal Human Development Report 2004. Development and Planning Department, Government of West Bengal. May 2004. ISBN 81-7955-030-3. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  9. ^ a b Lieten, G. K. (1996). "Land Reforms at Centre Stage: The Evidence on West Bengal". Development and Change. 27 (1). The Hague: International Institute of Social Studies: 111–130. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7660.1996.tb00580.x. ISSN 1467-7660.
  10. ^ a b c Bandyopadhyay, D. (2003). "Land Reforms and Agriculture: The West Bengal Experience". Economic and Political Weekly. 38 (9): 879–884. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 4413274.
  11. ^ Besley, Timothy; Burgess, Robin (1 May 2000). "Land Reform, Poverty Reduction, and Growth: Evidence from India". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 115 (2). Oxford Academic: 389–430. doi:10.1162/003355300554809. ISSN 0033-5533. S2CID 4811684.
  12. ^ a b Saha, Anamitra; Swaminathan, Madhura (1994). "Agricultural Growth in West Bengal in the 1980s: A Disaggregation by Districts and Crops". Economic and Political Weekly. 29 (13): A2–A11. ISSN 0012-9976.
  13. ^ Indrayan, A.; Wysocki, M. J.; Chawla, A.; Kumar, R.; Singh, N. (1999). "3-Decade Trend in Human Development Index in India and Its Major States". Social Indicators Research. 46 (1). Springer Publishing: 91–120. doi:10.1023/A:1006875829698. ISSN 0303-8300. S2CID 142881301 – via JSTOR.
  14. ^ "END OF AN ERA". Frontline. 2000-11-10. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  15. ^ " Exit Buddhadeb, man who saw beyond ideological convictions", The Economic Times, May 14, 2011. Archived 19 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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