Communist Party of India Marxist West Bengal

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Template:Infobox political party The Communist Party of India (Marxist) of West Bengal is the West Bengal affiliate of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in India. The party was the leader of the longest-serving governing alliance, Left Front, in West Bengal, holding power from 1977 to 2011. Currently, the party holds one representative in West Bengal Legislative Assembly.[1]

History

Template:Communism in India Template:Communism sidebar Template:Marxism–Leninism sidebar Template:Marxism

Formation of CPI(M)

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.[2] 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.[3]

In the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election of 1967, fourteen opposition parties contested through two pre-poll political alliances;[4] 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.[5] The CPI-M became the second largest party outstripping its former party, the CPI.

Basu Era (1977–2000)

For the 1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, negotiations between the Janata Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) broke down.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8][9][10] 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.[8][9] 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.[9][11] 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.[11] 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.[12]

Buddhadeb Era (2000–2011)

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.[13] 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.[14]

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.Template:Fact

Out of power and decline (2011 – present)

Structure and composition

State Conferences

As Communist Party of India

Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |No Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |Location Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |Year Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |Secretary Elected
1st Metiaburuz 1934 Mani Chattopadhyay
2nd Chandannagar 1938 Nripen Chakraborty
3rd Bharat Sabha Hall,Kolkata 18–21 March, 1943 Bhabani Sen
4th Dacres Lane, Kolkata 4–6 October, 1948 Ranen Sen
5th Muslim Institute Hall, Kolkata 5–9 October, 1951 Muzzaffar Ahmed
6th Muslim Institute Hall, Kolkata 17–21 December, 1953 Jyoti Basu
7th Muslim Institute Hall, Kolkata 16–21 January, 1956 Jyoti Basu
8th Muslim Institute Hall, Kolkata 8–12 April, 1959 Jyoti Basu
9th Burdwan 17–22 January, 1961 Promode Dasgupta
10th Muslim Institute Hall, Kolkata 22–26 October, 1964 Promode Dasgupta

As Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |No Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |Location Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |Year Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |Secretary Elected
11th Dum Dum 6–9 October, 1968 Promode Dasgupta
13th Sisir Mancha, Kolkata 7–10 February, 1978 Promode Dasgupta
14th Mahajati Sadan, Kolkata 27 December–3 January, 1981–82 Promode Dasgupta
15th Tollygunge 29 November–2 December, 1985 Saroj Mukherjee
16th Yuva Bharati Krirangan, Salt Lake 3–6 December, 1988 Saroj Mukherjee
17th Siliguri 11–15 December, 1991 Sailen Dasgupta
18th Kishore Bharati Krirangan, Jadavpur 1–5 March, 1995 Sailen Dasgupta
19th Sarat Sadan, Howrah 27–30 August, 1998 Sailen Dasgupta
20th Promode Dasgupta Bhaban, Kolkata 22–25 February, 2002 Anil Biswas
21st Nazrul Mancha, Kamarhati 9–12 February, 2005 Anil Biswas
22nd Mahajati Sadan, Kolkata 13–17 January, 2008 Biman Bose
23rd Promode Dasgupta Bhaban, Kolkata 15–19 February, 2012 Biman Bose
24th Pramode Dasgupta Bhaban, Kolkata 8–13 March, 2015 Surjya Kanta Mishra
25th Pramode Dasgupta Bhaban, Kolkata 5–8 March, 2018 Surjya Kanta Mishra
26th Pramode Dasgupta Bhaban, Kolkata 14–16 March, 2022 Mohammed Salim
27th Dankuni, Hooghly District 22–25 February, 2025 Mohammed Salim

List of state secretaries

Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |No Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |Portrait Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |Secretary Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |Term Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |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 Template:Age in years and days

Current state committee members

Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |No Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" |Name
1 Mohammed Salim (Secretary)
2 Ram Chandra Dome
3 Sridip Bhattacharya
4 Sujan Chakraborty
5 Abhas Ray Choudhuri
6 Sumit De
7 Samik Lahiri
8 Deblina Hembram
9 Anadi Sahoo
10 Kallol Majumder
11 Palash Das
12 Debabrata Ghosh
13 Ziaul Alam
14 Debasish Chakraborty
15 Pulin Bihari Baske
16 Saman Pathak
17 Anwarul Haque
18 Goutam Ghosh
19 Shyamali Pradhan
29 Alakesh Das
21 Minakshi Mukherjee
22 Pradip Sarkar
23 Shaikh Ibrahim
24 Shatarup Ghosh
25 Srijan Bhattacharyya
26 Amiya Patra
27 Ram Chandra Dome
28 Abhas Roy Choudhury
29 Anadi Sahoo
30 Kallol Majumdar
31 Sumit De
32 Palash Das
33 Amal Halder
34 Sukhendu Panigrahi
35 Jibesh Sarkar
36 Debasish Chakrabarty
37 Rama Biswas
38 Achintya Mallick

District Committees

Style="background-color:Template:Party color; color:white" | District Style="background-color:Template:Party color; color:white"| District Secretary
Cooch Behar Ananta Ray
Alipurduar Kishore Das
Jalpaiguri Piyush Mishra
Darjeeling Saman Pathak
Uttar Dinajpur Anwarul Haque
Dakshin Dinajpur Nandalal Hazra
Maldah Kaushik Mishra
Murshidabad Jamir Mollah
Nadia Meghlal Sekh
North 24 Parganas Palash Das
South 24 Parganas Ratan Bagchi
Kolkata Kallol Mazumdar
Howrah Dilip Ghosh
Hooghly Debabrata Ghosh
Purba Medinipur Niranjan Sihi
Paschim Medinipur Bijay Paul
Jhargram Pradip Sarkar
Purulia Pradip Ray
Bankura Deblina Hembram
Purba Bardhaman Syed Hossain
Paschim Bardhaman Gouranga Chatterjee
Birbhum Goutam Ghosh

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

Jyoti Basu, longest serving chief minister of West Bengal

Template:Main

Template:Abbr 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

Template:Main

Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Election Year Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Party leader Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Overall votes Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | % of overall votes Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Total seats Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | seats won/
seats contensted 		Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | +/- in seats Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | +/- in vote share Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Sitting side
As Communist Party of India (Marxist)
1967 Jyoti Basu 2,293,026 18.11% 280 Template:Composition bar new new Template:No2
1969 2,676,981 20.00% 280 Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 37 Template:Increase 1.9% Template:No2
1971 N/A 27.45% 294 Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 33 N/A Template:No2
1972 5,080,828 27.45% 294 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 99 N/A Template:No2
1977 5,080,828 35.46% 294 Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 164 Template:Increase 8.01 Template:Yes2
1982 8,655,371 38.49% 294 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 4 Template:Increase 3.03 Template:Yes2
1987 10,285,723 39.12% 294 Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 13 Template:Increase 0.89 Template:Yes2
1991 11,418,822 36.87% 294 Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 2 Template:Decrease 2.43 Template:Yes2
1996 13,670,198 37.16% 294 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 32 Template:Increase 1.05 Template:Yes2
2001 Buddhadeb Bhattacharya 13,402,603 36.59% 294 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 14 Template:Decrease 1.33 Template:Yes2
2006 14,652,200 37.13% 294 Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 33 Template:Increase 0.54 Template:Yes2
2011 14,330,061 30.08% 294 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 136 Template:Decrease 7.05 Template:No2
2016 Surjya Kanta Mishra 10,802,058 19.75% 294 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 14 Template:Decrease 10.35 Template:No2
2021 2,837,276 4.73% 294 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 26 Template:Decrease 15.02 Template:No2

Results of Indian general elections in West Bengal

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

CPI(M) in West Bengal Municipal Corporations

Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Corporation Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Election Year Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Seats won/
Total seats 		Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Template:Abbr of votes Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Sitting side
Asansol Municipal Corporation 2022 Template:Composition bar 1.89% Template:No2
Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation 2022 Template:Composition bar 10.95% Template:N/a
Chandernagore Municipal Corporation 2022 Template:Composition bar 26.40% Template:No
Howrah Municipal Corporation 2013 Template:Composition bar N/A Template:No2
Kolkata Municipal Corporation 2021 Template:Composition bar 9.65% Template:No2
Siliguri Municipal Corporation 2022 Template:Composition bar 14.41% Template:No2

CPI(M) in West Bengal Local Elections

Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Election Year Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Gram Panchayats won Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Panchayat Samitis Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Zilla Parishads Style="background-color:Template:Party color;color:white" | Template:Abbr of votes
2018 Template:Composition bar Template:Composition bar Template:Composition bar 6%
2023 Template:Composition bar Template:Composition bar Template:Composition bar 14%

See also

References

  1. ↑ CPI(M) ends electoral drought in West Bengal with single assembly seat win. The New Indian Express. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  2. ↑ 1962 India-China war: Why India needed that jolt. The Economic Times(7 October 2012).
  3. ↑ General Election, 1962 (Vol I, II). Election Commission of India.
  4. ↑ Control, Politics and Perspective of a State Legislature. The Indian Journal of Political Science({Template:Date).
  5. ↑ Economic reform and the urban/rural divide: Political realignment in West Bengal 1977–2000. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies({Template:Date).
  6. ↑ Why Has Nobody Called It Yet? An Analysis of the West Bengal Elections, Mahaprashasta, Ajoy Ashirwad. The Wire(4 May 2016).
  7. ↑ West Bengal Human Development Report 2004{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Development and Planning Department, Government of West Bengal(May 2004). ISBN 81-7955-030-3
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Land Reforms at Centre Stage: The Evidence on West Bengal. Development and Change({Template:Date).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Land Reforms and Agriculture: The West Bengal Experience. Economic and Political Weekly({Template:Date).
  10. ↑ Land Reform, Poverty Reduction, and Growth: Evidence from India. The Quarterly Journal of Economics({Template:Date).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Agricultural Growth in West Bengal in the 1980s: A Disaggregation by Districts and Crops. Economic and Political Weekly({Template:Date).
  12. ↑ 3-Decade Trend in Human Development Index in India and Its Major States. Social Indicators Research({Template:Date).
  13. ↑ End Of An Era. Frontline(2000-11-10). Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  14. ↑ " Exit Buddhadeb, man who saw beyond ideological convictions", The Economic Times, 14 May 2011. Template:Webarchive

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