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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}{{Use Indian English|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox political party
| name = Indian People's Front
| logo =
| symbol =
| flag =
| colorcode = {{party color|Indian Peoples Front}}
| foundation = April 1982
| dissolution = 1994
| country = India
| founder = [[Vinod Mishra]]
| split =
| president = [[Nagbhushan Patnaik]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=50O6AAAAIAAJ|title=JPRS Report: Near East & South Asia, Issue 92061|publisher=Foreign Broadcast Information Service|year=1987|location=United States|pages=50}}</ref>
| secretary = [[Dipankar Bhattacharya]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chand|first=Attar|title=President Shankar Dayal Sharma, the Scholar and the Statesman|publisher=Anmol Publication|year=1992|isbn=8-17041-678-7|location=New Delhi|pages=128}}</ref>
}}

The '''Indian People's Front''' (IPF) was a mass front organisation founded in Delhi between 24–26 April 1982. It was conceptualised by [[Vinod Mishra]] and it was operated as the open mass front of the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation|CPIML Liberation]] between 1982–1994. The front primarily worked for the social and economic upliftment of [[adivasi]]s, [[dalit]]s and [[impoverished]] sections of society and mobilised them through the means of [[Unionization|unions]], rallies and [[Convention (meeting)|conventions]].

It had a significant presence in the state of [[Bihar]] (including present day [[Jharkhand]]) and also operated in the states of [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]], [[Punjab]] and [[West Bengal]] attempting to project itself as a national party. It was disbanded when the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation began contesting elections on its own, inheriting its organisation.

The leadership of the front included [[Nagbhushan Patnaik]] and [[Dipankar Bhattacharya]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Farz|first=Ahmed|date=March 31, 1994|title=Indian People's Front loses its status as a political party|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19940331-indian-people-front-loses-its-status-as-a-political-party-808950-1994-03-31|access-date=2021-12-22|website=India Today|language=en}}</ref> The chairperson of the [[Autonomous State Demand Committee]], [[Jayanta Rongpi]] was also a member of the central committee. The central committee also included [[Rameshwar Prasad]] and Ganauri Azad Harijan, among others.

== History ==

=== Foundation ===
In 1979, the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation]] held a conference which sanctioned the formation of an open mass organisation. The idea was conceptualized by the general secretary [[Vinod Mishra]] to enable the party to organise with other democratic forces on the lines of a "popular, democratic and patriotic programme" and participate in [[electoral politics]]. The party had been underground since the imposition of [[The Emergency (India)|the Emergency]] in India.<ref name="lib2">Sen, Arindam. ''[http://www.cpiml.org/liberation/year_1999/january/homage11.htm The Life of Vinod Mishra] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923210847/http://www.cpiml.org/liberation/year_1999/january/homage11.htm|date=2015-09-23}}''</ref> The Indian People's Front was launched in a conference organised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation which was held in Delhi between 24–26 April 1982. The conference was attended by the splinter factions of the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)]] led by [[Nagbhushan Patnaik]] and [[Chandra Pulla Reddy]]. It was intended to project itself as a "national alternative" to the [[Indira Gandhi]] led [[Indian National Congress]].<ref name="karat2">[[Prakash Karat|Karat, Prakash]]. ''[http://cpim.org/marxist/198501_marxist_naxalism_Prakash.htm Naxalism Today; At an Ideological Deadend]''. ''The Marxist'', Volume: 3, No. 1, January- March 1985</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.cpiml.org/pgs/*|title=Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218135746/http://www.cpiml.org/pgs/30yrs/hist30.htm|archive-date=18 February 2009}}</ref> In the beginning, the front was projected as a [[united front]] of different revolutionary groups but most other factions dropped out during its formation and it effectively became a mass organisation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation.<ref>[[Omvedt, Gail]]. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Wlxb0uacnRcC&pg=PA163 Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India]''. London; Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1993. p. 163</ref> [[Satyanarayan Singh (Bihar politician, died 1984)|Satyanarayan Singh]] publicly denounced and ridiculed the notion of the front becoming a "national alternative".<ref name="karat2" /> On 15 October 1982, the front organised a mass rally against the Bihar Press Bill which witnessed a participation of 100,000 people according to [[mainstream media]] sources.<ref name=":3" />

=== Second conference ===
The Indian People's Front (IPF) held its second conference in [[Kolkata]] between 4–6 November 1984, in midst of the turmoil following the [[assassination of Indira Gandhi]].<ref name="ye2">[[Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation]]. ''[http://www.cpiml.org/pgs/30yrs/hist30.htm 30 years of CPI(ML)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218135746/http://www.cpiml.org/pgs/30yrs/hist30.htm|date=February 18, 2009}}''</ref> It contested 49 seats in the [[1985 Bihar Legislative Assembly election]] but failed to win a single seat.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Nedumpara|first=Jose J.|title=Political Economy and Class Contradictions: A Study|publisher=Anmol Publication|year=2004|isbn=978-81261-171-85|location=New Delhi|pages=114}}</ref> On 19 April 1986, the police opened fire on a protest gathering of landless farmers (primarily [[dalit]]s) which resulted in the deaths of 23 people in [[Arwal]], [[Bihar]]. Civil rights activists described the massacre as part of a systematic eradication of the moblisation of impoverished people by branding them as "Naxalite" and killing them in [[Encounter killings by police|police encounters]] in collaboration with private armies and militias of rich ''[[zamindar]]s'' (landlords) such as the [[Ranvir Sena]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19860531-arwal-massacre-bihar-cm-bindeshwari-dubey-justify-police-action-800894-1986-05-31|title=Arwal massacre: Bihar CM Bindeshwari Dubey justify police action|last=Ahmed|first=Farzand|date=31 May 1986|website=[[India Today]]|language=en|access-date=5 April 2020}}</ref> In August, the IPF organised an armed ''[[gherao]]'' (picketing) of the [[Bihar Legislative Assembly]] in protest of the massacre. The protest is claimed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, to mark a new phase in the assertiveness of revolutionary democratic forces.<ref name=":0" /> In the same year, the front organised a "national convention of women" in [[Kolkata]] which saw a participation of around 1000 women. The convention took the initiative of giving attention to women's issues while attempting to foster cooperation and synthesis between communist women's organisations and autonomous women's groups. In an address to the convention, the president of the women's cell of the front stated that feminism and Marxism were complementary ideologies.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Omvedt|first=Gail|title=Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India|url=https://archive.org/details/reinventingrevol0000omve|url-access=registration|publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]]|year=1993|isbn=0-87332-784-5|location=[[Armonk]] & [[London]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/reinventingrevol0000omve/page/207 207]-208|author-link=Gail Omvedt}}</ref> The front also organised an "all India worker's convention" in [[Ambernath]], near [[Mumbai]] in November 1987, with [[trade union]] leader [[Datta Samant]] as the convener.<ref name=":0" />

=== Mandal commission & Economic liberalisation ===
In the [[1989 Indian general election]], the Indian People's Front (IPF) was able to win the [[Arrah (Lok Sabha constituency)|Arrah constituency]] in Bihar with [[Rameshwar Prasad]] as the candidate. It was also able to win 7 seats and secure the second highest vote share in 14 constituencies in the [[1990 Bihar Legislative Assembly election]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nedumpara|first=Jose J.|title=Political Economy and Class Contradictions: A Study|publisher=Anmol Publication|year=2004|isbn=978-81261-171-85|location=New Delhi|pages=5 & 144}}</ref> Over the years, the front had acquired a large share of the [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes|Scheduled Caste]] voters from the [[Indian National Congress]] in Bihar. It took the position of supporting reservations solely on the basis of social and educational backwardness and supported the implementation of the recommendations of the [[Mandal Commission]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Political Process in Uttar Pradesh: Identity, Economic Reforms, and Governance|publisher=[[Pearson Longman]]|year=2007|isbn=978-81-317-0797-5|editor-last=Pai|editor-first=Sudha|location=New Delhi|pages=168|chapter=National Seminar on Uttar Pradesh in the 1990s: Critical Perspectives}}</ref> In the 1990 election, the IPF had contested 82 seats and received a vote share of 10.56% on the contested seats.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eci.gov.in/files/file/3897-bihar-1990/|title=Bihar 1990|website=[[Election Commission of India]]}}</ref> During the [[economic liberalisation in India]], it launched campaigns against price hikes and for the [[right to work]], adopting a traditional leftist discourse.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Omvedt|first=Gail|title=Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India|url=https://archive.org/details/reinventingrevol0000omve|url-access=registration|publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]]|year=1993|isbn=0-87332-784-5|location=[[Armonk]] & [[London]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/reinventingrevol0000omve/page/233 233]|author-link=Gail Omvedt}}</ref> On 8 October 1990, a national rally with the slogan of ''dam bandho kaam do'' (check prices and give jobs) was organised in [[Delhi]] by the front.<ref name="ye2" /> In the same month, it organised a mass rally in [[Patna]] which was noted to be the largest rally in the recorded history of the city.<ref name=":1" />

In the [[1991 Indian general election]], the IPF lost the seat of [[Arrah (Lok Sabha constituency)|Arrah constituency]] but was able to send a member to the parliament ([[Jayanta Rongpi]]<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Dutta|first1=Madhushree|title=The Nation, the State, and Indian Identity|last2=Agnes|first2=Flavia|last3=Adarkar|first3=Neera|publisher=Samya|year=1996|isbn=81-85604-09-6|location=Kolkata|pages=129}}</ref>) through the [[Autonomous State Demand Committee]] in the [[Karbi Anglong (Lok Sabha constituency)|Karbi Anglong constituency]]. In the same year, four of its members in the Bihar Legislative Assembly defected to the [[Janata Dal]] under the leadership of [[Lalu Prasad Yadav]] at the height of polarisation on the Mandal issue.<ref name=":1" /> In Uttar Pradesh, the party publication ''Liberation'' accused the [[Samajwadi Party]] of targeting the cadre and lower caste support base of the Indian People's Front with [[state violence]] and then providing them with protection if they defected preventing it from successfully organising the way it had in [[Bihar]].<ref name=":2" /> On 14 February 1992, in the wake of rising [[Hindutva|Hindu nationalism]] in India, the [[Bharatiya Kisan Sangh]] (farmer's union affiliated to the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]) killed 14 Scheduled caste landless labourers for supporting the Indian People's Front in Tikshora village near Patna.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|last=Nedumpara|first=Jose J.|title=Political Economy and Class Contradictions: A Study|publisher=Anmol Publication|year=2004|isbn=978-81261-171-85|location=New Delhi|pages=120}}</ref> At the same time, the front was able to expand its footprint in [[Punjab]] when its candidate Surjan Singh Joga won the Joga constituency in the [[1992 Punjab Legislative Assembly election]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Aggarwal|first=J. C.|title=Modern History of Punjab: Relevant Select Documents|publisher=Concept Publication Company|year=1992|isbn=81-7022-431-4|editor-last=Agarwal|editor-first=S. P.|location=New Delhi|pages=192}}</ref>

=== Disbandment ===
In December 1992, the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation]] held its fifth congress in [[Kolkata]]. Following which the party came out of the underground and eventually disbanded the Indian People's Front in 1994.<ref name=":0" /> The ''Samajik Parivartan Rally'' (Social Change Rally) on 18 March 1994, was the last rally called by the front. The rally was reported to been a gathering of tens of thousands of bare-footed and starving workers who had marched to [[Patna]] from all over Bihar; some having traveled over {{convert|100|km}} on foot to reach the venue. At the time, political observers described the front to be the fastest growing leftist movement in India. From 1995 onward the party began contesting elections on its own, substituting the role of the former front.<ref name=":1" />

==Affiliated organisations==
The Indian People's Front (IPF) had a number of [[unorganised sector]] unions in Bihar.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Joshi|first=Barbara R.|title=Untouchable!: Voices of the Dalit Liberation Movement|publisher=Zed Books Ltd.|year=1986|isbn=0-86232-459-9|location=London|pages=101–102}}</ref>

* '''Rickshaw-Thela Chalak Mazdoor Sangha (RTCMS):''' an union of rickshaw and handcart drivers. Ganauri Azad Harijan was the president of the union and a member of the national executive of the Indian People's Front.
* '''Bihar Jhuggi-Jhopri Bashi Sangha (BJJBS):''' an organisation of slum dwellers in [[Patna]]. Dinesh Singh was a fish seller and the president of the BJJBS.
*'''Uttarakhand Popular Anti-Liquor Movement:''' The movement for the restriction and regulation of liquor sales in [[Uttarakhand]] was also affiliated to the IPF from the founding conference.<ref name=":0" />

== See also ==

* [[BAMCEF]]
* [[Bahujan Samaj Party]]
* [[Lal Sena]]
* [[All India Students Association]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation}}
[[Category:1982 establishments in Delhi]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation]]
[[Category:Defunct communist parties in India]]
[[Category:Defunct political party alliances in India]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1982]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1994]]
[[Category:Popular fronts]]

Indian People's Front - Revision history

Delinker at 15:11, 25 July 2023