Revolutionary Communist Party of India

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Template:About Template:Use Indian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Indian Political Party Template:Communism in India Template:Communism The Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Template:Small RCPI) is a political party in India. The party was founded as the Communist League by Saumyendranath Tagore in 1934, breaking away from the Communist Party of India (CPI). RCPI led armed uprisings after the independence of India, but later shifted to parliamentary politics. The party is active in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The party was represented in the West Bengal government while being a part of Second United Front Cabinet (1969) as well as in various state government during the Left Front rule in the state (1977–2011). In Assam, the party won four Legislative Assembly seats in 1978, but its political influence has since declined in the state.

Ideology

The RCPI works toward a socialist revolution, rather than a people's democratic revolution, a national democratic revolution or a new democratic revolution.

The party strives to build socialism under the leadership of the proletariat with active cooperation of other exploited strata of the humanity, including peasants, working intellectuals and non-manual working sections of people.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Communist League

S.N. Tagore founded the Communist League on 1 August 1934.<ref name=pts>Partido de los Trabajadores Socialistas. Origenes y formacion del trotskismo en India y Ceilan</ref><ref name="Sadasivan1977">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=a/> Tagore was a communist leader from Bengal who had attended the 1928 Sixth Congress of the Communist International, and had stayed in Europe for seven years afterwards.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/><ref name="Laushey1975">Template:Cite book</ref> He toured the continent on behalf of the League Against Imperialism.<ref name="Haithcox2015"/> At the 1928 Communist International congress Tagore had sought to challenge the role of M.N. Roy in the organization.<ref name="Laushey1975"/> Tagore had turned hostile towards Stalin, possibly as in reaction to his failed bid to gain recognition from the Communist International in 1928.<ref name="Laushey1975"/> On his return to India in 1934 he appealed to CPI to abandon its ultra-left line.<ref name="Chowdhuri2007">Template:Cite book</ref> Albeit CPI would later moderate its positions after the Seventh Congress of the Communist International, Tagore broke with CPI and founded his own communist group (the Communist League).<ref name="Chowdhuri2007"/> In May 1934 Tagore set up an 'initiative committee' for the founding of the new party.<ref name=pts/> Other founders of the Communist League included Sudhir Dasgupta, Prabhat Sen, Ranjit Majumdar and Arun Banerjee.<ref name=a/>

Tagore denounced the Popular Front line of CPI, rejecting the Congress Socialist Party.<ref name=tr/> In Tagore's view the CSP represented an alliance between socialists and reactionary elements of the bourgeoise.<ref name="Chowdhuri2007"/>

Communist League and the peasantry

After the formation of the Communist League Tagore began touring the Bengal country-side, organizing peasants to struggle for abolishing the zamindari system.Template:Citation needed In early 1938 Tagore built a peasants wing, the Bangiyo Pradeshik Kisan Sabha, separate from the CPI-led Krishak Samiti.Template:Citation needed Tagore's BPKS demanded abolition of the zamindari system without giving any compensation to landlords, free distribution of land among the cultivators and agricultural labourers, minimization of revenue demands and cancellation of debts to moneylenders.Template:Citation needed

Communist League in Murshidabad

Tarapada Gupta set up the Communist League branch in Murshidabad in 1936, raising the red flag for the first time in recorded history in the district.<ref name=b/><ref name="Gupta1992"/> Tarapada Gupta had been released from jail in 1935, and he established contact with Tagore's group.<ref name=b>Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies. Saumyendranath Tagore and the Peasant Movement of Murshidabad: A Study on Historical Perspectives</ref> The Communist League preceded both the CPI and the RSP in Murshidabad.<ref name=b/> The party successfully organized peasants to refuse to pay rents to landlords in the area.<ref name=b/> Gupta would later side with Tagore in the 1948 party split.<ref name="Gupta1992">Template:Cite book</ref>

Tagore in Assam

RCPI was the first left organization to established itself in Assam.<ref name=pl>Template:Cite book</ref> RCPI built a student movement in Assam.<ref name=pl/> In 1937 a Radical Club was formed at Cotton College, under the cover of theTemplate:Clarify and with Haren Kalita as its leader.<ref name="c">[1]</ref><ref name="Gupta2009">Template:Cite book</ref> In November 1938 Tagore visited Assam and met with a group of students and youth.<ref name="Gupta2009"/><ref name="Saikia2015134">Template:Cite book</ref> His visit was organized by the Congressman Debranath Sarma.<ref name="Saikia2015134"/> A Communist League branch was formed in the province in 1939, with several of the Cotton College students as its members.<ref name="Saikia2015134"/> Students who became members of the Communist League included Haren Kalita, Haridas Deka, Tarunsen Deka, Upen Sarma, Ananda Chandra Das, Taracharan Majumdar, Gokul Medhi, Arabinda Ghosh, Loknath Barua, Umakanta Sarma, Bhupen Mahanta, N. Buragohain, Khagendranath Barbarua, Uma Sarma and Kamini Goswami.<ref name="Saikia2015376">Template:Cite book</ref> The students would later contest, and eventually win, the Cotton College Students Union through the Assam Provincial Students Federation.<ref name="Saikia2015134"/>

Tagore made a second visit to Assam in December 1941.<ref name=c/> This time he visited Khagen Barbarua at his village in Upper Assam and discussed building the party organization in the province.<ref name=c/> Tagore was expelled from Assam on 18 December 1941.<ref name=c/> The Assam Provincial Student Federation, which was under the influence of RCPI supported the Quit India movement.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

On 2 May 1940 the Krishak Banuva Panchayat was formed in Gauhati as the open front group of the party in Assam.<ref name="Gupta2009"/> Kedarnath Goswami was the first president of KBP, a former Congressman and labour organizer.<ref name="Saikia2015137">Template:Cite book</ref> The basic unit of KBP was the Gaon Krishak Panchayat ('Village Peasants Council').<ref name="Saikia2015137"/> The Assamese folk singer Bishnu Prasad Rabha joined KBP in 1945.<ref name="Saikia2015145">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1949 he became a RCPI member.<ref name="Saikia2015145"/>

As the Indian National Congress dominated the tea gardens of Assam and there was little industrial labour in the province, the Communist League instead sought to organize rice mill workers, horse cart drivers and steamboat labourers.<ref name="Saikia2015136">Template:Cite book</ref> The efforts had meagre results.<ref name="Saikia2015136"/> Notably RCPI made no intents to build the party in the hill areas of Assam.<ref name=c/>

RCPI and the World War

The party was organized along Leninist lines with party cells at the bottom of the party hierarchy and the Central Committee as its leadership.<ref name="Weiner2015" /> In preparation of the impending World War, the party developed a three-tier leadership structure in order for the party to survive under waves of repression.<ref name=tr /> The third tier was entirely clandestine, prepared to take over the party affairs after arrests of the first two tiers.<ref name=tr />

The party raised the slogan "Not one paisa, not one man for war". On 4 September 1939 Tagore issued a declaration, labelling the war as an imperialist conflict and called on the Indian workers to turn the imperialist war into civil war.<ref name=pts /> Tagore was arrested and jailed under the Defence of India Act immediately afterwards.<ref name=pts /><ref name=tr /> With Tagore in jail, Pannalal Dasgupta became general secretary of the party.<ref name=tr /> He toured Assam, Bombay, Madras and Bengal.Template:Citation needed During the Second World War, peasants influenced by the party were instructed not to sell rice for exportation.Template:Citation needed

In 1941 the Third Party Conference of the Communist League of India changed its name to Communist Party of India (not to be confused with its far more well-known namesake).<ref name=a>Template:Cite book</ref> In March 1943 the name RCPI was adopted, in order to differentiate itself from the CPI.<ref name=a /> The party positioned itself claiming to be the sole true leftist party in the country, denouncing all other left forces as ideologically bankrupt.<ref name="Chowdhuri2007" /> Overall RCPI avoided collaboration with other left-wing groups.<ref name="Basu1994" /> RCPI labour organizing was done largely outside the All India Trade Union Congress.<ref name="Basu1994" /> It managed to build a core of political cadres and was active building a labour movement amongst workers at the jute mills in the Beliaghata-Narkeldanga area of Calcutta.<ref name="Basu1994">Template:Cite book</ref> The party was often referred to as the 'Tagorites' or as the 'Ganavani group' (after the name of its publication).<ref name="Basu1994" /><ref name="Ralhan2002">Template:Cite book</ref>

RCPI differed with CPI on tactical questions during the Second World War.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /> RCPI denounced the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact as well as declaring the Soviet war with Finland as 'imperialist'.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /><ref name="Weiner2015">Template:Cite book</ref>

The RCPI fully supported the Quit India movement.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /> The party sought to develop the Quit India movement into a revolutionary upheaval.<ref name=tr /> Most of the known party leaders were arrested, and would remain in detention until the end of the Second World War.<ref name=tr /> Through the Radical Institute, RCPI promoted dissemination of locally produced weaponry to use against British government forces in Assam.<ref name="Saikia2015145" />

In the "Red Front", in October 1942, Saumyendranath Tagore wrote:

The conclusions that we draw from the Quit India movement are the following:

First, the utter bankruptcy of the Congress, the party of the Indian bourgeoisie and its total inability to lead the national movement.

Secondly, the complete overthrow of non-violence as a technique of struggle.

Thirdly, the complete exposure of the National Frontists, the legal Communists, the germ-carriers of anti-revolutionary Stalinism.

Fourthly, the rapid revolutionisation of the masses.

Fifthly, the ripening of the ideological premises for the growth of real leftism as a result of the political development, both national and international.

The national revolution in India has definitely jumped over the hurdles of Gandhism and has scornfully rejected the petty bourgeois Congress Socialism which is at the service of the Indian bourgeoisie.

It has thoroughly exposed the legal communist traitors of the Stalinist and the Royist brand. Only the political line of the Revolutionary Communist Party stands fully vindicated by the development and march of the national revolutionary movement.

In 1945 RCPI raised two key slogans in Assam, 'land to the tiller' (nangal jar mati tar) and 'one third share' (tin bhag), slogans which became very popular amongst landless peasants and agricultural labourers.<ref name="Saikia20153">Template:Cite book</ref> KBP was able to make some inroads amongst these sectors.<ref name="Saikia2015150">Template:Cite book</ref>

Some Tribal League leaders in Assam, such as Aniram Basumatari and Daben Khaklari, became RCPI members in the mid-1940s.<ref name="Saikia2015168">Template:Cite book</ref> Their presence in the party helped it to make inroads amongst the tribals in Assam.<ref name="Saikia2015168" />

Independence and Partition

As the departure of British colonial rule came closer, RCPI denounced the negotiated independence as a joint conspiracy between British imperialism and the Indian bourgeoisie.<ref name="Chowdhuri2007"/> RCPI stated that Independence obtained in 1947 was a false one.<ref name="Saikia2015159">Template:Cite book</ref> Rejecting the official process for independence, RCPI began organizing panchayats (i.e. soviets) of workers and peasants in order to convene a Workers and Peasants Constituent Assembly.<ref name=tr/> RCPI denounced the Partition of India as betrayal and surrender to British imperialism.<ref name="Chowdhuri2007"/> There was a strong Hindu chauvinist trend within RCPI, as alleged by Charles W. Ervin.<ref name=m/> RCPI opposed the 1946 Cabinet Mission to India, which wanted to place Assam into the Muslim-majority grouping of provinces.<ref name="Saikia2015134"/> According to Salkia, through its opposition to the Cabinet Mission grouping RCPI was able to carve out "a niche for itself in the mainstream politics of Assam".<ref name="Saikia2015134"/>

In 1946 RCPI discussed a possible merger with the Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma.<ref name=tr/> The RCPI delegation in the talks consisted of Sudhir Dasgupta, Tarapada Gupta, and Gour Pal.<ref name=tr/> Nevertheless, the merger discussion didn't go through.<ref name=tr/> RCPI refused to join the Fourth International.<ref name=tr/> The BLPI discarded the RCPI line of organizing soviets as a premature move.<ref name=tr/>

In September 1947 RCPI and BLPI collaborated to build a United Workers Front to challenge the Congress-led trade unions.<ref name=m>Cahiers Leon Trotsky, February 1998</ref> In December 1947 Tagore was elected president of the All India Bank Employees Association, at its conference held in Lucknow.<ref>Syndicate Bank Employees Union (Regd). Looking Back Template:Webarchive</ref>

Tagore–Dasgupta split

Tagore was jailed in November 1947.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /> Tagore was released from prison in 1948.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /> After his release from jail Tagore argued that armed revolution was premature in India.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /> But a sector of the party, led by Pannalal Dasgupta, insisted on turning the campaign of building panchayats into a general armed insurrection.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /><ref name=tr />

Dasgupta assembled an All India Party Conference in Birbhum in 1948.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /> Tagore requested to resign from the RCPI Central Committee, a request the Birbhum conference rejected.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /> After the Birbhum conference the followers of Dasgupta began to gather arms and prepare for armed struggle.<ref name=tr /> The developments inside RCPI had an echo in the CPI.<ref name="Saikia2015209">Template:Cite book</ref> Dasgupta's view that India was ripe for armed revolution coincided with the position of the new CPI leader B.T. Ranadive.<ref name="Saikia2015209" />

After the Birbhum conference Tagore, at a public meeting in Calcutta, denounced insurrectional line of Dasgupta.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /> Tagore's speech pushed the Dasgupta group to issue disciplinary action against him, accepting his resignation from the Central Committee.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /> Half a year later Tagore gathered his followers for a separate Party Conference, as its 5th Party Congress, in Burdwan.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /><ref name=tr /> Thus there were two parallel RCPIs, one led by Dasgupta and one led by Tagore.<ref name="Sadasivan1977" /> Dasgupta represented the majority group in the split.<ref name=m /> It was sometimes known as 'RCPI (Rebel Group)'<ref name="Dept1965" /> or as 'RCPI (Dasgupta)'. The Tagore-led party was known as 'RCPI (Tagore)'.

26 February 1949 attacks

On 26 February 1949 the Dasgupta-led RCPI initiated its armed revolt.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/> They attacked the Dum Dum Airfield, Jessop & Company and the Dum Dum Gun and Shell Factory.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/><ref name="Bandyopadhyay2009">Template:Cite book</ref> At the Jessop plant equipment was stolen.<ref name="Weiner2015"/> Several persons were killed or injured in the attacks.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/> At the Dum Dum Gun and Shell Factory the sentry was shot.<ref name="Bandyopadhyay2009"/> The British manager at Jessop was thrown into a furnace, as were two other Europeans.<ref name="Haithcox2015">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Bandyopadhyay2009"/> Another European was stabbed, and later died.<ref name="Bandyopadhyay2009"/> At Dum Dum Airfield a plane was set on fire and seven rifles stolen.<ref name="Bandyopadhyay2009"/> The militants then moved towards Basirhat.<ref name="Weiner2015"/><ref name="Bandyopadhyay2009"/> On Jessore Road they attacked the Gouripour Police Post.<ref name="ChakrabartyRoy1982">Template:Cite book</ref> At Basirhat they attacked a police station, killing two guards and stealing 26 rifles.<ref name="Bandyopadhyay2009"/> The militants attempted to flee into East Pakistan.<ref name="Bandyopadhyay2009"/> Eventually the group was caught as police reinforcements arrived from Calcutta.<ref name="Weiner2015"/><ref name="Bandyopadhyay2009"/> A police inspector was killed during the gun fight.<ref name="Bandyopadhyay2009"/> Only two of the attackers managed to escape arrest.<ref name="Schendel2005">Template:Cite book</ref> 39 RCPI cadres were arrested, including Dasgupta himself.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/> They were held without trial for 4–5 years, and then sentenced to jail.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/> Dasgupta himself was sentenced to imprisonment for life.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/>

After the 1949 revolt, the party cast away its line of insurrectional politics.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/> Whilst RCPI acted from underground, no formal ban was placed on the party.<ref name="Dept1965"/>

Assam insurgency

The Assam branch of RCPI sided with Dasgupta in the 1948 split.<ref name="Saikia2015209"/> In the wake of Independence, RCPI and CPI initiated mass peasant unrest in Assam.<ref name="Gohain1985">Template:Cite book</ref> In the wake of the Dum Dum-Basirhat attacks, the party decided to launch an armed movement for the independence of Assam from India.<ref name="Saikia2015209"/> The party held a conference in Khowang, Dibrugarh, at which is decided to build a 'People's Army' as an armed mass front of the party.<ref name="Saikia2015209"/> RCPI-led uprisings in Assam took place between 1948 and 1952.<ref name=cept>Informal Development, Services Access and Land Rights Claims – Dynamics of Conflicts in Hill Settlements, Guwahati, CUE Working Paper 29 January 2016</ref> Khagen Barbarua led the movement in the non-tribal areas in Upper Assam.<ref name=c/> The party raised the battle cry 'land belongs to the one who wields a plough, the jungle belongs to one who wields an axe', calling for ownership rights for sharecroppers.<ref name=cept/> The Assam government placed a ban on the party, citing the pretext that RCPI organized peasants to cease payments to landlords and supported illegal felling of trees.<ref name=cept/>

In early 1950 RCPI killed Ganga Sarma, a local Indian National Congress leader in Assam, during a meeting.<ref name="Saikia2015278">Template:Cite book</ref> According to the government of Assam, RCPI committed 12 assassinations in the state in 1950.<ref name="Saikia2015278"/> RCPI financed its rebellion in Assam through robberies and extortion.<ref name="Saikia2015423">Template:Cite book</ref> The government responded by cracking down on RCPI in Assam.<ref name="Saikia2015278"/> The government responded by cracking down on RCPI in Assam.<ref name="Saikia2015278"/> As a symbolic protest against the state violence, RCPI cadres tore down the national flag at different places in the state.<ref name="Saikia2015278"/> In the wake of state repression against RCPI, the party lost influence amongst the sharecroppers in Assam.<ref name="Saikia2015246"/>

In the wake of state repression against RCPI, the party lost influence amongst the sharecroppers in Assam.<ref name="Saikia2015246"/> In Assam RCPI and CPI were at loggerheads, especially around the issue of the Soviet Union (RCPI accusing CPI of being controlled by the Soviets, CPI accusing RCPI of being anti-Soviet).<ref name="Saikia2015284">Template:Cite book</ref> RCPI-CPI relations reached its lowest point in 1952.<ref name="Saikia2015284" />

Work amongst refugees

RCPI had a mass organization, the Bastuhara Kalyan Parishad, which organized relief activities in camps of refugees from East Pakistan.<ref name=re>Anusua Basu Roy Chaudhury/Ishita Dey. Citizens, Non-Citizens, and in the Camps Lives</ref> The party also had a separate refugee women's organization, Bangiya Dal Seba Sangathan.<ref name=mc/> RCPI concentrated its work amongst refugees in Nadia district.<ref name=re/> In 1948–1949 the RCPI and the All India Forward Bloc dominated the Chandmari and Goshala refugee camps in Nadia district.<ref name=mc>Comments on Refugee Movement: Another Aspect of Popular Movements in West Bengal in the 1950s and 1960s</ref> Prabhat Mukherjee and Amalendu Neogi were key RCPI leaders at Chandmari camp.<ref name=m/> At Goshala the RCPI cadre Arun Banerjee organized refugee youth into revolutionary politics.<ref name=m/> The party joined the United Central Refugee Council in August 1950.<ref name="Kaul2001">Template:Cite book</ref> RCPI(Rebel) in UCRC and ULF.<ref name="Chakrabarti1990">Template:Cite book</ref> In October 1950 RCPI forcefully took control of 175 bighas near Gayeshpur Colony and redistributed the land amongst 350 refugee families.<ref name=mc/>

First General Election

The party boycotted the 1951–1952 elections.<ref name="Dept1965">Template:Cite book</ref> In October 1952, the Assam government withdrew the ban on the RCPI.<ref name="Saikia2015246">Template:Cite book</ref>

Union activism

RCPI was active within the United Trade Union Congress, but opposed RSP domination of UTUC.<ref>"United Trade Union Congress and Others"</ref>

RCPI in Bihar

RCPI never gained any prominence in Bihar. The influence of the party solely included a few trade unions in Chhotanagpur.<ref name="Sharma1995">Template:Cite book</ref> One union influenced by RCPI was the Hindustan Khan Mazdoor Sangh, a coal miners' union.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

RCPI in Bombay

Krishna Desai, a textile worker from Bombay, joined RCPI in 1947.<ref name=d>Template:Cite book</ref> He was elected to the Bombay Municipal Corporation at numerous times as a RCPI candidate.<ref name=d/> Desai joined CPI ahead of the 1967 state assembly election.<ref name=d/>

Desai had sought refugee in Calcutta, as he was on the run after his role in communal violence. The stayed with the RCPI there and when he returned to Bombay he founded a RCPI branch there.<ref name="Prakash2011">Template:Cite book</ref> Another labour organizer of RCPI in Bombay was K.L. Bajaj, who became a RCPI member after a visit to Calcutta in the early 1950s.<ref name=kl/> He joined CPI(M) in 1964 and later became vice president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions.<ref>People's Democracy. Comrade K L Bajaj</ref>

RCPI took part in the Samyukta Maharashtra struggle of the 1950s.<ref name=kl>People's Democracy. Homage to Comrade K L Bajaj</ref>

1957 elections

The party fielded 5 candidates in the 1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election.<ref name="English1958">Template:Cite book</ref>

Khagen Barbarua of RCPI was elected to the Assam Legislative Assembly in the 1957 Assam Legislative Assembly election from the Amguri constituency.<ref>Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1957 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ASSAM</ref><ref name=ib/>

1960 Party Congress

The party held an All India Party Conference in Howrah in 1960.<ref name=tr/> At the Howrah conference the Trotskyist Revolutionary Workers Party merged into the RCPI.<ref name=tr>Alexander, Robert J. Trotskyism in India</ref> Moreover, Howrah conference elected Sudhindranath Kumar as new general secretary of the party.<ref name=tr/> Kumar had joined the party in 1936.<ref name="(Firm)1969">Template:Cite book</ref> As per an agreement between RWP and RCPI, the Trotskyists were given five seats in the RCPI Central Committee.<ref name=tr/>

1962 elections

Ahead of the 1962 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election RCPI joined the CPI-led United Left Front.<ref>M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 220.</ref> Two RCPI candidates were elected; Anadi Das from Howrah West and Kanai Pal (ex-RWP) from Santipur.<ref name=tr/><ref name=vidhansabha1962>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In Assam RCPI stayed out of the United Opposition Front set up by the Praja Socialist Party and independents.<ref name="Borgohain1994">Template:Cite book</ref> Khagen Barbarua retained the Amguri seat in the 1962 Assam Legislative Assembly election.<ref>Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1962 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ASSAM</ref> RCPI had fielded 16 candidates in the election.<ref name=ib>International Bulletin. The General Election Results in India</ref>

1962 Indo-China war

When Dasgupta returned after his release from jail, the relations with the former RWP cadres deteriorated.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/> Dasgupta had evolved into a Nehru supporter.<ref name=tr/> In the Indo-China war of 1962 RCPI supported the Nehru government, a move the Trotskyists opposed.<ref name=tr/><ref name=d/> As a result of the dispute over the Indo-China war, the Trotskyists broke with RCPI in 1963.<ref name=d/> Dasgupta himself parted ways with RCPI, moving towards a Gandhian position.<ref name=tr/><ref name="Basu2003">Template:Cite book</ref>

1967 elections

Kumar served as convenor of the United Front formed ahead of the 1967 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/><ref name="Service1967"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Anadi Das lost his assembly seat in the election.<ref name=vidhansabha1967>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the protests against the dismissal of the first United Front cabinet in 1967, Kumar was arrested under the Preventive Detention Act.<ref name="Service1967">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Chakrabarty1978">Template:Cite book</ref>

RCPI won 3 seats in the first Howrah Municipal Corporation polls, held in 1967.<ref name="Corporation1967">Template:Cite book</ref>

Md. Shamsul Huda of RCPI won the Dhing seat in the 1967 Assam Legislative Assembly election.<ref name="(Firm)1970u">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1967 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ASSAM</ref>

In the Second United Front government

After the 1969 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election Kumar was named Food and Supplies Minister in the second United Front state government.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=fr>Template:Cite book</ref> The Food Minister had been given to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the coalition government, but CPI(M) opted to name Kumar as its choice for the post.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The RCPI won two seats in the 1969 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/> Kumar was named convenor of the United Front as well as being named Food Minister in the Second United Front Cabinet.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/> After Kumar's entry into the West Bengal state cabinet, the two RCPI legislators, Anadi Das and M. Mokshed Ali, revolted against Kumar's leadership.<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/> In July 1969 the two legislators were expelled from RCPI, accused of "anti-Party and anti-UF activities".<ref name="Sadasivan1977"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Governments1970">Template:Cite book</ref> The expulsion provoked a split in RCPI, with Anadi Das leading his own RCPI faction.<ref name=fr/>

1970s

After the fall of the United Front cabinet, the RCPI joined the CPI(M)-led United Left Front.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The front, which was formally constituted in May 1970, had Kumar as its convenor.<ref name="Ghosh1981">Template:Cite book</ref> In the 1971 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election RCPI won three seats; Bimalananda Mukherjee in Santipur, Sudhindranath Kumar in Howrah Central and Trilochan Mal in Hansan.<ref name=vidhansabha1971>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the 1971 Indian general election RCPI and CPI(M) had an electoral understanding in Assam.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> RCPI fielded three candidates in the 1971 Lok Sabha election; two in Assam and one in Bihar.<ref name=i1971>Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1971 TO THE FIFTH LOK SABHA – VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS)</ref> In the Nowgong constituency Baneswar Saikia obtained 32,619 votes (14.34%).<ref name=i1971/> In the Jorhat constituency Khogen Bar Barua finished in second place with 31,810 votes (17.10%), challenging Tarun Gogoi.<ref name=i1971/> In Bihar, Lakshmi Narayan Singh contested the Katihar seat and obtained 1,193 votes (0.43%).<ref name=i1971/>

In the 1972 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election RCPI fielded its three incumbent legislators; Mukherjee, Kumar and Mal.<ref name=vidhansabha1972>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> All three were defeated, gathering 47038 votes (0.35% of the statewide vote).<ref name=vidhansabha1972/> Whilst RCPI lost its Dhing seat in the 1972 Assam Legislative Assembly election, it managed to score an impressive victory against Dharanidar Chowdhury in Bhabanipur constituency.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Bhabanipur legislator was Ghanakanta Boro.<ref name="Reed1976">Template:Cite book</ref>

As of the mid-1970s RCPI published the Bengali weekly Mat-o-Path and the Bengali fortnightly Janasadharan, both issued from Calcutta.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

RCPI fielded a single candidate in the 1974 Orissa Legislative Assembly election.<ref name=o1974>Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1974 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ORISSA</ref> Sarangdhar Muduli, a trade unionist, contested the Sukinda seat and obtained 478 votes (1.21%)<ref name=o1974/><ref>The Background of the Political Elite of Orissa</ref>

1977 elections

Ahead of the 1977 Indian general election RCPI was one of the six founding parties of the CPI(M)-led West Bengal Left Front.<ref name=biman/><ref name=fro>Frontline. What is the Left Front?</ref> The Left Front contested the general election in West Bengal with an electoral understanding with the Janata Party.<ref name=biman>People's Democracy. West Bengal: How The Left Front And Its Government Emerged Template:Webarchive</ref>

But whilst CPI(M) was supportive of the Janata Party in Assam in the 1977 Lok Sabha election, RCPI considered the Janata Party and the Congress(I) equally dangerous.<ref name="Chaube1985">Template:Cite book</ref> RCPI fielded a single candidate; Shamsul Huda in the Kaliabor constituency.<ref name=i1977>Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1977 TO THE SIXTH LOK SABHA – VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS)</ref> He finished in third place with 45,047 votes (15.63%).<ref name=i1977/>

In the subsequent 1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election RCPI fielded 4 candidates.<ref name=s1977>Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1977 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="Mukherjee1991">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Committee">Template:Cite book</ref> Three of the candidates won their seats; Bimalananda Mukherjee was elected from Santipur, Trilochan Mal from Hansan and Sudhindranath Kumar from Howrah Central.<ref name=s1977/> Malati Bhusan Hazra finished in third place in Pingla.<ref name=s1977/> In total the party obtained 75,156 votes (0.52% of the statewide vote).<ref name=s1977/>

Left Front era

After the 1977 election, Kumar was named Minister for Food and Civil Supplies in the first Left Front cabinet.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

RCPI fielded three candidates in the 1982 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election; Mukherjee in Santipur, Kumar in Howrah Central and Mal in Hansan. In total the three candidates obtained 106,973 votes (0.48% of the statewide vote).<ref name=vidhansabha1982>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Mukherjee and Mal retained their seats.<ref name=vidhansabha1982/> Kumar lost the Howrah Central seat to Congress(I) candidate Ambica Banerjee.<ref name=vidhansabha1982/> Kumar finished in second place with 29,785 votes (43.34%).<ref name=s1982>Election Commission of India. REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1982 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGALTemplate:Dead link</ref> After having lost his assembly seat, Kumar lost his post as minister.<ref name=sudhin>India Today. West Bengal: Seating scrap</ref> Bimalananda Mukherjee replaced him as the RCPI representative in the Left Front government.<ref name=b1>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=b2>Template:Cite book</ref> However, whilst Kumar had been a cabinet minister Mukherjee was named Minister of State (for Excise).<ref name=b1/><ref name=b2/> In 1984 CPI(M) wanted to nominate Kumar for a Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Parliament of India) seat, but that proposal met resistance from other Left Front partners.<ref>India Today. West Bengal: Seating scrap</ref> Kumar died in 1984.<ref name=q>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1985 a by-election was held in the Hansan (SC) constituency, after the death of incumbent legislator Trilochan Mal.<ref name="e">Election Commission of India. Bye-election results 1952–95</ref> RCPI candidate Umakanta Roy won the by-election.<ref>India Today. By-elections: Changing fortunes</ref>

RCPI contested 8 out of 1111 seats in the West Bengal municipal elections of 1986.<ref>India Today. [indiatoday.intoday.in/story/congressi-loses-ground-in-west-bengal-municipal-polls/1/348625.html Red revenge]</ref>

RCPI fielded three candidates in the 1987 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election; Sankar Mondol in Howrah Central, Bimalananda Mukherjee in Santipur and Trilochan Das in Hansan.<ref name=vidhansabha1987>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In total the RCPI candidates obtained 118,985 votes (0.42% of the statewide vote).<ref name=vidhansabha1987/> Mukherjee was the sole RCPI candidate elected.<ref name=vidhansabha1987/>

RCPI contested two seats in the 1991 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election; Trilochan Das in Hansan and Asim Ghosh in Santipur.<ref name=vidhansabha1991>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Das won the Hansan seat.<ref name=vidhansabha1991/>

In the 1996 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election RCPI fielded Bimalananda Mukherjee in Santipur and Mihir Bain in Hansan.<ref name=vidhansabha1996>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Both finished in second place in their respective constituencies.<ref name=vidhansabha1996/> The two RCPI candidates obtained 105,366 votes (0.29% of the statewide vote).<ref name=vidhansabha1996/> RCPI failed to regain its presence in the assembly in the 2001 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election.<ref name=vidhansabha2001>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the West Bengal panchayat elections, 2003 RCPI won 3 Gram Panchayat seats (0.01% of the seats in the state), 0 Panchayat Samiti seats and 1 Zilla Parishad seat (0.14% of the seats in the state).<ref name=pdp>People's Democracy. C O M P A R A T I V E R E S U L T 2003 & 2008 Template:Webarchive</ref> In Nadia district Asit Biswas was elected from Gayeshpur-II and Gita Rani Kundu won the Babla-VIII seat.<ref>West Bengal State Election Commission. Nadia</ref>

RCPI did not win any seat in the 2006 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election.<ref name=vidhansabha2006>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the West Bengal panchayat elections, 2008 RCPI won 3 Gram Panchayat seats (0.01% of the seats in the state), 0 Panchayat Samiti seats and 1 Zilla Parishad seat (0.13% of the seats in the state).<ref name=pdp/>

RCPI contested ward 87 in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation election, 2010 with Simki Sengupta as its candidate.<ref>The Telegraph. A tailor-made fight by the riverside – In the name of the brother & Didi</ref> Sengupta, an artist, finished in third place with 684 votes (12.38% of the votes cast)<ref>West Bengal State Election Commission. Kolkata Municipal Corporation General Election Results, 2010</ref><ref>Times of India. Our netas have some nerve!</ref>

In the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election RCPI fielded Yar Mullick in Santipur and Kamal Hassan in Hansan. Both candidates were new contestants.<ref>Ganashakti. Left Front Committee West Bengal – Assembly Election- 2011 List of Candidates</ref> The election symbol of the party was determined only a few weeks before the vote.<ref>The Telegraph. 42 Days to May 13 Template:Webarchive</ref> Both candidates finished in second place in their respective constituencies. In total they obtained 107,662 votes (0.23% of the statewide vote).<ref name=vidhansabha2011>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

1978 Assam elections

The left forces made significant headway in the post-Emergency 1978 Assam Legislative Assembly election.<ref name=u>Goswami, Sandhya. ASSAM: MULTIPLE REALIGNMENTS AND FRAGMENTATION OF PARTY SYSTEM</ref> RCPI won 4 seats.<ref>People's Democracy. Comrade Achintya Bhattacharyya (1914–1993)</ref> In total 10 candidates ran on RCPI tickets, obtaining 72,445 votes.<ref name=a1978>Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1978 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ASSAM</ref>

The four RCPI legislators were Md. Shamsul Huda from Dhing, Baneswar Saikia from Batadroba, Khagen Barbarua from Amguri and Budha Baruah from Mahmara.<ref name="Hussain1994b">Template:Cite book</ref> Whilst Md. Shamsul Huda was elected with over 75% of the votes cast in his constituency, Baruah managed to get elected with just 20.9% of the votes cast.<ref name=a1978/> All other RCPI candidates forfeited their deposits.<ref name=a1978/> In the assembly RCPI formed a Left Bloc aligned with CPI(M), CPI, SUCI and CPI(ML).<ref name="Hussain1994">Template:Cite book</ref>

RCPI and CPI(M) supported the formation of a Janata Party cabinet with Golap Borbora as Chief Minister.<ref name="KhanSarkar1988">Template:Cite book</ref>

When the Assam agitation began, RCPI and other progressive forces urged the agigatators to accept 25 March 1971 as the cut-off date for deportation of migrants.<ref name=fra/> As Assam was engulfed in communal violence, members of RCPI and other left parties were killed or maimed.<ref name=fra>Frontline. Fretful wait</ref> The popular support for RCPI and other left parties declined sharply as they had opposed the Assam agitation.<ref name=u/>

RCPI in Assam after the Assam agitation

As of 1981 RCPI was part of the Left Democratic Alliance (along with CPI(M), CPI and SUCI).<ref>India Today. Assam: A state ravaged</ref> In April 1984 RCPI joined a convention of opposition parties (along with CPI, Congress (S) and the Janata Party), a move which side-lined the CPI(M). The April 1984 opposition convention used a language largely supportive of the Assam agitation.<ref name="Dutta1990">Template:Cite book</ref>

RCPI fielded a single candidate in the 1996 Indian general election; Baneswar Saikia in the Nowgong constituency.<ref name=i1996>Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1996 TO THE 11th LOK SABHA – VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS)</ref> He obtained 1,803 votes (0.25%).<ref name=i1996/> As of 1996 Baneswar Saikia served as the RCPI general secretary.<ref name="Saikia2015460">Template:Cite book</ref>

RCPI fielded two candidates in the 1998 Indian general election; Abdur Rashid in the Kaliabor constituency and Padma Kamal Phukon in the Jorhat constituency.<ref name=i1998>Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1998 TO THE 12th LOK SABHA – VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS) Template:Webarchive</ref> In Kaliabor RCPI obtained 2,778 votes (0.43%) and in Jorhat the party obtained 1,642 votes (0.49%).<ref name=i1998/>

RCPI fielded a single candidate in the 1999 Indian general election; Baneswar Saikia in the Kaliabor constituency.<ref name=i1999>Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1999 TO THE 13th LOK SABHA – VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS) Template:Webarchive</ref> He obtained 1,516 votes (0.20%).<ref name=i1999/>

RCPI joined the Nationalist Congress Party-led Regional Democratic Alliance ahead of the 2001 Assam Legislative Assembly election.<ref name=u/>

RCPI fielded a single candidate in the 2004 Indian general election; Raj Kumar Dowara in the Jorhat constituency.<ref name=i2004>Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 2004 TO THE 14th LOK SABHA – VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS)</ref> He finished in fifth place with 16,691.<ref name=i2004/>

RCPI fielded a single candidate in the 2009 Indian general election; Ambu Bora (then aged 78) in the Gauhati constituency.<ref name=i2009>Election Commission of India. 25 – CONSTITUENCY WISE DETAILED RESULTS</ref> Bora received 7,788 votes (0.7% of the votes in the constituency).<ref name=i2009/>

Later period

In the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, 2015 RCPI again contested ward 87 with Tarun Basu as its candidate.<ref>Kolkata24x7. পুরভোটে বরো আট: মোদী ম্যাজিক সরাতে মমতার কার্ড Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Ganashakti. Kolkata Municipal Corporation election 2015 LF announced candidate list</ref>

Leadership

Paramesh Das was the Assam state secretary of RCPI.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref> Subhas Roy is the West Bengal State Secretary of the party.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Biren Deka is the Secretary of the Central Committee of the party.<ref name=":0" />

On the 28th day of October 2018, an Organising State Committee was formed in Kerala, under the secretaryship of Dipin Thekkepuram.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

2016 elections

As per the second list of Left Front candidates for the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, released in March 2016, RCPI fielded Sanjoy Basu, a Calcutta High Court lawyer, in the Santipur seat and Kamal Hassan in the Hansan seat.<ref>The Telegraph. Cadres spoil Buddha lunch</ref><ref>Ganashakti. "আরো ৮৫ আসনে প্রার্থী ঘোষণা বামফ্রন্টের"</ref> After a period of vacillation RCPI endorsed the Left Front-Congress electoral understanding ahead of the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, although the agreement would mean no seats for RCPI to contest.<ref>Anandabazaar Patrika. "কংগ্রেসের পাশে আরসিপিআই-ও"</ref> Hassan's candidature was unofficially withdrawn in favour of the Indian National Congress after the prescribed date for withdrawal of nominations.<ref>Prasar Bharati. West Bengal Assembly Elections 2016 Backgrounder Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name=s2016/> Kamal Hassan obtained 751 votes (0.4%).<ref name=s2016>Election Commission of India. Detailed Report</ref> Basu's nomination had been withdrawn prior to the prescribed date.<ref name=s2016/>

RCPI joined the six-party United Left ahead of the 2016 Assam Legislative Assembly election.<ref>First Post. Assam election: Defeating 'corrupt' Congress, 'communal' BJP essential, says CPM</ref> RCPI contested the Dhing and Mahmara seats<ref>The Sentinel. Left parties to field 59 candidates in AssamTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref>People's Democracy. ASSAM: Assembly Elections: Close Fight between Congress & BJP</ref> RCPI candidate Jamanur Rahman in Dhing obtained 737 votes (0.43%) and Nityananda Gogoi in Mahmara obtained 448 votes (0.43%).<ref name=a2016>Election Commission of India. Detailed Results</ref> The party has since joined the 11-party Left-Democratic Manch, Assam.<ref>People's Democracy. Left Democratic Manch Opposes Privatisation of Assam’s Oilfields</ref> As of 2016 LDMA demanded that 24 March 1971, be chosen as the base year for deportation of foreigners from Assam.<ref>The Telegraph. Muslim migrants the problem: BJP</ref>

Mass Organisations

  • Students' Wings:
    • Assam Provincial Students' Federation (APSF) (till 1949)
    • Progressive Students' Federation of India (PSFI)
  • Youth Wing: Progressive Youth Federation of India (PYFI)
  • Peasants' Wing: Krishak Panchayat
  • Women's Wing: Xodou Axom Pragati Nari Sangha (সদৌ অসম প্ৰগতি নাৰী সংঘ)

Leaders

References

Template:Reflist

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