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{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri
| image = Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri.JPG
| imagesize =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1917|4|10}}
| birth_place = Lyallpur, [[British India]]
| residence =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2013|5|27|1917|4|10}}
| death_place = Ludhiana, India
| occupation = [[Politician]]
| nationality = Indian
| salary =
| networth =
| yearsactive=
| othername =
| spouse =
| children =
| website =
}}
[[File:EMS & JS Lyalpuri. Noor Mahal. 27 Oct 1966.jpg|thumb|Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri and EMS]]
'''Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri''' (10 April 1917 – 27 May 2013) was an Indian politician.<ref name="h"/> He was the oldest surviving member of the founding [[Central Committee]] of the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]].<ref name="h"/><ref name="t"/><ref>''Red Star''. [http://www.cpiml.in/home/files/Red%20Star%20Weekly/Red_Star_Weekly_issue__22_vol_2_2nd_June_2013.pdf Com. Jagjit Singh Lyalpuri] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233056/http://www.cpiml.in/home/files/Red%20Star%20Weekly/Red_Star_Weekly_issue__22_vol_2_2nd_June_2013.pdf |date=3 March 2016 }}</ref>

==Political activist==
Prior to the [[Partition of India]], Lyallpuri's family held a land ownership of roughly 150–180 acres in Lyallpur (present-day Faisalabad, in [[Pakistan]]).<ref name="hi"/> The young Lyallpuri became a political activist through the student movement in the 1930s and after finishing his BSc at [[Khalsa College, Amritsar|Khalsa College]] in [[Amritsar]] he joined the [[Indian National Congress]] at the age of 18.<ref name="h"/><ref name="hi">''[https://books.google.com/books?id=oP1tAAAAMAAJ Proceedings of the Indian History Congress]'', Vol. 62. Indian History Congress, 2002. p. 595</ref><ref name="ht"/> Lyallpuri's parents were reluctant towards his entry into politics. They preferred that he'd embark on a professional career instead.<ref name="ht"/> Lyallpuri obtained his LLB from the Government Law College in [[Lahore]] in 1940.<ref name="h"/><ref name="ht"/> He soon became a professional revolutionary and cadre of the [[Workers and Peasants Party|Kirti Kisan Party]], was included in the [[Central Committee]] of the party and a leader of the Punjab Kisan Sabha.<ref name="h"/><ref name="t">''The Tribune''. [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120411/ldh1.htm#16 Veteran leader Lyallpuri turns 95]</ref><ref name="ht"/> The Kirti Kisan Party later merged into the [[Communist Party of India]].<ref name="h"/>

==After Partition==
As a result of Partition, Lyallpuri moved to Ludhiana.<ref name="h"/> Within the Communist Party, he opposed [[B.T. Ranadive]]'s line of launching guerrilla struggles.<ref name="ht"/> Lyallpuri was jailed between 1949 and 1951, when the Communist Party was banned.<ref name="ht"/><ref>''Indian Express''. [http://www.indianexpress.com/news/comrade-jagjit-singh-dies-at-96/1121804/ Comrade Jagjit Singh dies at 96]</ref> Whilst in jail, he was ordered by the party leadership to instigate a prisoner revolt, which led to riots and a [[hunger strike]]. He fasted for nine weeks.<ref name="ht"/>

In April 1953 he was elected Joint Secretary of the [[All India Kisan Sabha]], at its 11th conference in [[Cannanore]].<ref>Overstreet, Gene D., and Marshall Windmiller. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=PAFBW743Bi4C&pg=PA389 Communism in India]''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1959. p. 389</ref> He would hold this post for 18 years.<ref name="ht"/>

Lyallpuri was a member of the National Council of CPI, elected at the 1958 extraordinary party conference in [[Amritsar]].<ref>Overstreet, Gene D., and Marshall Windmiller. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=PAFBW743Bi4C&pg=PA541 Communism in India]''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1959. pp. 541–542</ref> In 1961 he became the general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha.<ref name="t"/> In 1959 Lyallpuri and [[Harkishan Singh Surjeet|Harkishan Singh Surjit]] emerged as the leaders of a mass peasants struggle against the Khush Hasiyati Tax, a campaign mobilised by the Punjab State Committee of the Communist Party.<ref>Sidhu, Ajmer. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Vin5KbaJoh4C&pg=PA93 From Ghadar to Naxalbari – Baba Buhja Singh an untold story]''. Barnala: Tarkbharti Parkashan, 2013. p. 93</ref>

==In CPI(M)==
In 1964 he took part in [[1964 split in the Communist Party of India|the founding]] of the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]].<ref name="h"/> He was a member of the founding Central Committee of the party.<ref name="t"/> He remained in the post as All India Kisan Sabha general secretary until 1968.<ref name="ht">''Hindustan Times''. [http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/PunjabBlogs/Champion-of-the-downtrodden/Article1-1068752.aspx Champion of the downtrodden] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601195027/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/PunjabBlogs/Champion-of-the-downtrodden/Article1-1068752.aspx |date=1 June 2013 }}</ref> Lyallpuri was jailed during the 1975 [[Emergency (India)|Emergency]].<ref name="h"/>

During his years as a CPI(M) leader, Lyallpuri found himself in constant conflicts with the party leadership.<ref name="ht"/>

Lyallpuri contested the Ludhiana Rural seat in the 1980 Punjab Legislative Assembly election, finishing in second place with 17,874.<ref>Election Commission of India. ''[http://eci.gov.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1980/StatisticalReport%20Punjab%201980.pdf STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1980 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF PUNJAB]''</ref>

==Dissident leader==
In 1992 Lyallpuri led a split in the CPI(M) in protest against rapprochement with the Congress Party. Lyallpuri and other CPI(M) dissidents joined the [[Marxist Communist Party of India]].<ref name="h"/><ref name="ht"/><ref>''The Tribune''. [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080802/punjab1.htm Surjeet’s death mourned]</ref> Lyallpuri became the general secretary of MCPI.<ref name="ht"/>

When the [[Marxist Communist Party of India (United)]] was founded in 2005, Lyallpuri became its general secretary.<ref name="h">''Hindustan Times''. [http://www.hindustantimes.com/Punjab/Ludhiana/Oldest-surviving-founder-member-of-CPM-passes-away-at-96/SP-Article1-1067512.aspx Oldest surviving founder member of CPM passes away at 96] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529050550/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Punjab/Ludhiana/Oldest-surviving-founder-member-of-CPM-passes-away-at-96/SP-Article1-1067512.aspx |date=29 May 2013 }}</ref>

==Autobiography==
In 2010 Lyallpuri released his autobiography, ''My Life My Times''.<ref name="h"/>

==References==

{{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyallpuri, Jagjit Singh}}
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Faisalabad]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Politicians from Ludhiana]]
[[Category:Indian autobiographers]]
[[Category:Writers from Ludhiana]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]

Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 10:10, 14 August 2023