Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Communist Party of India (Marxist), left-wing national political party in India. It was formed in 1964 after splitting from the Communist Party of India (CPI) over ideological differences and established long-standing governments in the states of Keralam (formerly Kerala), Tripura, and West Bengal. Since the early 2010s the party’s national footprint has diminished, marked by a loss of seats in Parliament. It also lost power in traditional strongholds such as West Bengal and Tripura in 2011 and 2018, respectively. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) coalition government, led by the CPI (M), formed the government in Kerala in 2016 and remained in power until 2026.

Origins

The CPI(M) was formed as a result of internal differences within the CPI, which was founded in 1925 as the key communist party in India. A faction within the CPI, including leaders such as E.M.S. Namboodiripad, Jyoti Basu, and Puchalapalli Sundarayya, opposed the party leadership’s decision to participate in parliamentary politics in a system dominated by the Indian National Congress (Congress Party), which it saw as representing bourgeois and landlord interests. A section of the CPI broadly aligned with the Soviet Union’s parliamentary path to communism while another faction opposed the Soviet path and was ideologically influenced by the revolutionary approach of the Chinese Communist Party. Disagreements also emerged during the Sino-Indian War (1962), when party members differed over backing the Indian government led by the Congress Party or adopting a more critical stance. In 1964 this ideological rift resulted in a formal split. The pro-Soviet faction retained the name Communist Party of India, and the opposing group formed the Communist Party of India (Marxist), particularly to show that it was more left-leaning than the CPI.

Ideology

Marxism-Leninism is the guiding philosophy of the CPI(M), and the party seeks to apply these principles in the Indian political context. One of its main aims, according to the party’s official website, is to bring about a “people’s democratic revolution” in India to “transform the lives” of its citizens. According to the CPI(M), the Congress Party, which dominated Indian politics and led the central government in the decades following independence, promoted policies that support the bourgeoisie, capitalists, and landlords. The CPI(M) claims to oppose such policies and has outlined a broad framework in line with its ideology to support “working class and ordinary citizens.” Some of these include:

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• Establishing a people’s democracy and advancing a transformation of society led by the working class
• Promoting the right to work, universal health care, free education, living wages, and general welfare policies
• Advocating for an economy with multiple forms of ownership, where the state plays a leading role in key sectors, and progressive taxation
• Advocating for land reforms
• Eliminating the caste system and seeking equality for all minorities

Organization

The CPI(M)’s highest authority is the All-India Party Congress, which finalizes the overall political strategy of the party and elects the Central Committee. The Central Committee implements the decisions of the Party Congress, oversees the party’s policies between Party Congresses, and elects a Polit Bureau, which is the chief executive body of the party, and its general secretary. The party also has state, district, and local committees across India.

The CPI(M) also operates through a network of affiliated organizations that mobilize specific social constituencies. These include the following:

• The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) advocates for agrarian reform and farmers’ rights.
• The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) campaigns for labor rights, wages, and social protections.
• The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) mobilizes young people on issues affecting the Indian youth.
• The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) is active in colleges and universities.

Electoral performance and governance

After its establishment the CPI(M) gradually became the main left-wing party in Indian politics. It participated in and often led state coalition governments during the late 1960s and ’70s, notably in West Bengal and Kerala. In 1977 the CPI(M)-led Left Front alliance won the state assembly elections in West Bengal. The alliance won six more elections in the state and governed for 34 years until 2011, becoming the longest-serving democratically elected communist government in the world. Jyoti Basu headed the CPI(M) government for 23 of the 34 years, from 1977 to 2000, making him the longest-serving chief minister in West Bengal’s history. While in power the CPI(M) implemented several welfare policies, including Operation Barga to prevent the eviction of sharecroppers by landlords. It also played a key role in operationalizing and strengthening decentralized governance through the panchayati raj system, transforming a national framework into a functioning model of grassroots governance. The CPI(M)’s dominance in West Bengal began to erode in the 2000s, especially with the government’s controversial land acquisitions in Singur (2006) and Nandigram (2007) for industrial projects. Large-scale protests followed, led by farmers, activists, and the CPI(M)’s opponents, most prominently Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC). The backlash is widely seen as a crucial factor in the CPI(M)’s defeat by the TMC in the West Bengal election of 2011.

In Keralam the CPI(M) has been a political force for decades, leading governments as part of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) coalition, which was formed in the late 1970s and established its first government in 1980. The party’s roots in the state trace back to the landmark election of 1957, when E.M.S. Namboodiripad of the CPI became chief minister and led India’s first elected communist government (1957–59). Namboodiripad was among the members who split from the CPI and formed the CPI(M) in 1964. He became chief minister again in 1967, when the CPI(M)-led coalition formed the government. Other prominent CPI(M) leaders who have served as chief ministers in the state include E.K. Nayanar, who held office for three terms (1980–81, 1987–91, and 1996–2001) and V.S. Achuthanandan (2006–11). Power in the state has largely alternated between the LDF and the Congress Party-led United Democratic Front (UDF). LDF governments have implemented welfare policies in areas such as housing, education, health care, and land reform. The LDF has been in power since 2016 and has served two consecutive terms (2016–21 and 2021–26), with the CPI(M)’s Pinarayi Vijayan as chief minister. The LDF was defeated by the UDF in the 2026 state election.

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The party also headed the government in Tripura as part of the Left Front coalition from 1978 to 1988 and 1993 to 2018. Popular leaders of the CPI(M) in Tripura include Nripen Chakraborty, who was chief minister from 1978 to 1988, and Manik Sarkar, who was chief minister from 1998 to 2018. The party has an organizational presence across India and has supported or participated in ruling coalitions in several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu.

At the national level the CPI(M)’s electoral performance peaked during the 1990s and early 2000s, when it maintained more than 30 seats in every Lok Sabha election. The party secured its highest tally of 43 seats in the 2004 Lok Sabha election and supported the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government led by the Congress Party for a short time. In 2008 the party stopped supporting the UPA government after the latter formalized a civilian nuclear agreement with the United States. Since the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the party’s national political influence has declined. In the 2014, 2019, and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, its seat share was 9, 3, and 4, respectively.