(seats won / seats contested / seats total / votes / % of total vote) | |
Lok Sabha: | 19 / 59 / 520 / 6246522 / 4.28% |
---|---|
Elections to State Legislative Assemblies: | |
Andhra Pradesh | 9 / 83 / 287 / 1053855 / 7.61% |
Assam | 0 / 14 / 126 / 61165 / 1.97% |
Bihar | 4 / 32 / 318 / 173656 / 1.28% |
Haryana | 0 / 8 / 81 / 16379 / 0.54% |
Himachal Pradesh | 0 / 6 / 60 / 3019 / 0.39% |
Kerala | 52 / 59 / 133 / 1476456 / 23.51% |
Madhya Pradesh | 0 / 9 / 296 / 20728 / 0.23% |
Maharashtra | 1 / 11 / 270 / 145083 / 1.08% |
Manipur | 0 / 5 / 30 / 2093 / 0.67% |
Mysore | 1 / 10 / 216 / 82531 / 1.10% |
Orissa | 1 / 10 / 140 / 46597 / 1.16% |
Punjab | 3 / 13 / 104 / 138857 / 3.26% |
Rajasthan | 0 / 22 / 184 / 79826 / 1.18% |
Tamil Nadu | 11 / 22 / 234 / 623114 / 4.07% |
Tripura | 2 / 16 / 30 / 93739 / 21.61% |
Uttar Pradesh | 1 / 57 / 425 / 272565 / 1.27% |
West Bengal | 43 / 135 / 280 / 2293026 / 18.11% |
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated CPI(M) or CPM) is a communist party in India. The party emerged from a split from the Communist Party of India in 1964. The CPI(M) was formed at the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of India held in Calcutta from 31 October to 7 November 1964. The strength of CPI(M) is concentrated in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2016, CPI(M) is leading the state governments in Tripura and Kerala. It also leads the West Bengal Left Front. As of 2014, CPI(M) claimed to have 10,48,678 members. The highest body of the party is the Politburo.
CPI(M) emerged from a division within the Communist Party of India (CPI). The undivided CPI had experienced a period of upsurge during the years following the Second World War. The CPI led armed rebellions in Telangana, Tripura, and Kerala. However, it soon abandoned the strategy of armed revolution in favour of working within the parliamentary framework. In 1950 B. T. Ranadive, the CPI general secretary and a prominent representative of the radical sector inside the party, was demoted on grounds of left-adventurism.
Under the government of the Indian National Congress party of Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India developed close relations and a strategic partnership with the Soviet Union. The Soviet government consequently wished that the Indian communists moderate their criticism towards the Indian state and assume a supportive role towards the Congress governments. However, large sections of the CPI claimed that India remained a semi-feudal country, and that class struggle could not be put on the back-burner for the sake of guarding the interests of Soviet trade and foreign policy. Moreover, the Indian National Congress appeared to be generally hostile towards political competition. In 1959 the central government intervened to impose President's Rule in Kerala, toppling the E.M.S. Namboodiripad cabinet (the sole non-Congress state government in the country).