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Maoist-Influenced Revolutionary
Organizations in India
[Last revision: Nov. 25, 2008. This information is subject to further correction and updating.
For more information about a specific organization, click on its name in the tables below.]

Table 1: Current Maoist or Mao-influenced Organizations in India


Political
Name aka Publications Notes
Line
Lal Tara Founded on Feb. 20, 1978 as a splitoff from
Communist League of
CLI(ML) Gargi CPI(ML) COC.
India (M-L)
Lal Salaam At least 4 active factions.
Formed on Sept. 21, 2004 as a merger of CPI(ML)
Engaged in People’s
Communist Party of India guerrilla War and MCC(I). This is by far the largest and most
CPI (Maoist)
(Maoist) war in many important revolutionary party currently engaged in
states. guerrilla warfare
in India.
This new party was formed in January 2005 by a
merger of
Communist Party of India CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] and CPI(ML) Red Flag.
(M-L) CPI (ML) Both of
Centrist
[A new formation as of (?) these groups were substantial, so the new party is
2005] one of
the more important center-right M-L organizations
in India.
S. R. Bhaijee
CPI (M-L) Bhaijee Group Formed in 1990. Active in Bihar.
Group
Formed in 1977. In Aug. 1994 the Punjab section of
Central Team
merged with 3 other groups to form the
CPI(ML) Central Team Surkh Rekha
CPRCI(ML), but the
Maharashtra and West Bengal sections refused to
go along.
Formed in July 1992 by merger of 6 CPI(ML)
groups. There are now
many independent groups with this same name.
CPI (M-L) Janashakti
Active in at least
— Rajanna group
CPI (M-L) 8 states. The Rajanna faction is critical of the "mass
— Ranadheer group Guerrilla
People’s Janashakti line" groups
— Chandra Pulla Reddy war.
Power which it says do not really seem to be advancing
group
toward people’s war.
— Other factions
After a period of internal confusion, it seems to
have settled on
a strategy of guerrilla warfare.
CPI (M-L)
CPI (M-L) Jan Samvad People’s
Dialogue
Claims to be the main continuation of the original
CPI(ML). Backed
Liberation,
Electoral away from armed struggle in the 1970s. Probably
CPI (M-L) Liberation ML Update,
focus. the largest CPI(ML)
www.cpiml.org
group. Active in many states including Assam, W.
Bengal and Bihar.

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Split from CPI(ML) 2ndCC. They claim to be the
CPI (M-L) [Mahadev CPI (M-L) Bharater Iskra, "real" CPI(ML).
Mukherjee] [MM] WWW Small, doctrinaire and idiosyncratic; they continue
to support Lin Biao!
CPI (M-L) Maharashtra [Maharashtra is a state in west India.]
CPI (M-L) Nai Pahal
CPI(ML) MUC merged into this group in April
1999. After 2000,
a splinter group from the CPI(ML) Red Flag, led by
Advocates
someone named
CPI (M-L) Naxalbari Naxalbari immediate
Rauf, merged with CPI(ML) Naxalbari. Rauf is the
people’s war.
current Secretary of
this group. It is affiliated with CCOMPOSA and
RIM.
Formed in 1988 by Yatendra Kumar. Active in
New Democracy,
Bihar and elsewhere.
CPI (M-L) New CPI (M-L) Pratirodh ka Swar Possibly
Say they favor the "revolutionary mass line", but
Democracy Prajapandha Web: in flux.
also leaning more
http://cpimlnd.org
toward guerrilla warfare lately.
CPI (M-L) New
Proletarian
Said to be active in Bihar under the leadership of B.
CPI (M-L) N. Sharma.
CPI (M-L) Organizing
Organization (Unclear if this is the same group that merged into
Committee
Committee CCRI
in 1988.)
Engaged
CPI (M-L) Praja People’s
in armed
Pratighatana Retribution
struggle.
CPI (M-L)
CPI (M-L) Prajashakti People’s
Power
CPI (M-L)
Retribution; Engaged
CPI (M-L) Prathighatana CPI (M-L) Pratighatana in armed Split from CPI(ML) Praja Pratighatana.
[Phani struggle.
Bagchi]
Formed in 1977 with the merger of the CPI(ML)
S.N. Singh
CPI (M-L) Provisional Group and the CPI(ML) Unity Committee. The
For a New Prob.
Central CPI(ML)PCC CPI(ML) Central
Democracy centrist
Committee Team split off in 1978. In 1980 the C. P. Reddy
Group
split off. Active in Bihar, etc.
CPI (M-L) Formed around 1972 in northern West Bengal. Also
CPI (M-L) Shantipal Santi Pal active
Group in Bihar, etc.
Communist Party of the Engaged Split from CPI(ML) Janashakti in 1997. Wanted
United CPUSI in armed more attention
States of India struggle. to caste issues.
Formed in 1994 by merger of 4 groups: the Punjab
unit of CPI(ML)
Advocates
Communist Party Central Team; Centre of Communist
Surkh Rekha, the "revolu-
Reorganization CPRCI(ML) Revolutionaries of India;
The Comrade tionary mass
Centre of India (M-L) Communist Unity Centre of India; and the Marxist-
line".
Leninist
Organising Centre.

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Communist
Communist Revolutionary
Biplabi
Centre
Kendra
Small party in West Bengal. Founded and led by
Communist Revolutionary
former CPI(ML) student
League CRLI
leader Ashim Chatterjee. May now lean towards
of India
social democracy.
Seems to be a small middle of the road group (i.e.,
Marxist-Leninist ML not engaging
Committee Committee in guerrilla warfare) in the eastern part of Andhra
Pradesh.
Revolutionary Communist This may be a separate organization from
Centre, RCCI(Maoist) which merged
RCCI(MLM)
India (Marxist-Leninist- with MCCI in Jan. 2003. It is also affiliated with
Maoist) CCOMPOSA.
Revolutionary Socialist
Party RSPI/ML Formed in 1969.
of India (M-L)
Formed in 1975 and led by T. Nagi Reddy (who
Unity Centre of
"Mass died in 1976) and
Communist
UCCRI(ML) Proletarian Path revolutionary D.V. Rao. The Punjab Coordination Committee of
Revolutionaries of India
line." Communist
(M-L)
Revolutionaries merged with UCCRI in 1976.

Table 2: Revolutionary Nationalist Organizations in India


(Many influenced to some degree by Maoism.)
Political
Name aka Publications Notes
Line
This appears to be a bourgeois nationalist
Jharkhand Liberation Front organization.
May have split off from MCC(I).
This appears to be a reactionary organization,
Jharkhand Liberation Tigers maybe the
same group as the JLF above.
‘Kanglei’ is a local name for the area officially
known
Kangleipak Communist Party as Manipur state (in NE India). This very small
group split
from PREPAK in 1980.
National Socialist Council of Revolutionary nationalist organization possibly
NSCN(I/M) WWW
Nagaland (Issak/Muivah) influenced by Maoism. Formed in 1980.
Formed in 1978. Armed force of the
People’s Liberation Army PLA Revolutionary
People’s Front.
‘Kanglei’ is a local name for Manipur state.
People’s Revolutionary Party This seems to be a revolutionary nationalist
PREPAK
of Kangleipak party, with
Maoist influences. Formed in 1977.
A left nationalist organization possibly
Revolutionary People’s Front
RPF WWW influenced by Mao.
Manipur
Formed in 1979. The PLA is its armed force.
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu Marxist-Leninist Left nationalist splitoff from CPI(ML) PW in
Marxiya
Party 1995.
Leniniya Katchi

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Counter-revolutionary splitoff from PWG in
Tritiya Prastuti Committee TPC
2002.
Left nationalist tendency which may be
influenced by
United Liberation Front of
ULFA WWW Mao, but is not part of any communist tradition.
Assam
Formed
in 1979.

Table 3: Historical and Defunct Maoist Revolutionary Organizations in India


Political
Name aka Publications Notes
Line
Existed in 1967-1969: Originally a grouping of
All India Coordination
Advocated real
Committee
AICCCR immediate revolutionaries within the CPI (Marxist).
of Communist
people’s war. AICCCR was
Revolutionaries
the predecessor to the original CPI (M-L).
Founded in 1992. Focused mainly on
democratic rights, opposition
All India Peoples Resistance
AIPRF to imperialist globalization, etc. Viewed by
Forum
some people as a
front group for CPI(ML) People’s War.
Formed circa 1969 and led by T. Nagi Reddy.
Expelled
Andhra Pradesh from the AICCCR because of its disagreement
Revolutionary on the issue
Communist Committee of loyalty to the CPC, opposition to immediate
APCCCR
[originally: armed
APRCC
Andhra Pradesh Coordinating struggle, and opposition to the AICCCR’s
Committee of Communist boycott of
Revolutionaries] elections. In 1975 merged with 3 other groups
to form
the UCCRI(ML).
Formed in 1988 by merger of two
UCCRI(ML) factions, together
with CPI(ML) Chandrashekar Group, the
Centre of Communist "Mass Revolutionary
Revolutionaries CCRI revolutionary Communist Party, and the OCCPI(ML) group
of India line." led by Raghubir.
The CCRI merged into the new CPRCI(ML)
group
in Aug. 1994.
Minor group formed in 1974 in Kerala.
Included
Centre of Indian Communists CIC people who left the CPI(M). Viewed the
CPI(ML)
as "Indian Narodniks". Banned in 1977.
A middle of the road Maoist group in the
Bengal area
Committee of Communist
CCR New Democracy which merged into CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group]
Revolutionaries
sometime during
2003-2004.
Communist Organisation of COI-ML Centrist Formed in 1985 as a merger of 6 CPI(ML)
India (M-L) groups. Led
by Kanu Sanyal, one of the leaders of the
Naxalbari
revolt. Merged with CPI(ML) Unity Initiative
in
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June 2003 under the name CPI(ML).
This is the original CPI (ML) which was
founded on
Deshabrati April 22, 1969. Led by Charu Mazumdar until
Communist Party of India Attempted
"Naxalites" [Bengali], his
(M-L) people’s war.
Liberation murder by police in 1972. Splintered into
many
separate organizations.
Formed in 1979. The CPI(ML) Red Flag split
off in 1987.
In the fall of 1991 the CPI(ML) CRC was
disbanded when the
top leader, K. Venu, turned away from Maoist
CPI(ML) Central Mass Line
revolution.
Reorganization CPI(ML) CRC Liberation Confused.
Broke into separate state parties, including the
Committee Comrade
Kerala
Communist Party & the Maharashtra
Communist Party which later
merged to become the CPI(ML) Maoist Unity
Centre.
Merged with 4 other groups in 1988 to form
CPI (M-L) [Chandrashekar
the
Group]
Centre of Communist Revolutionaries in India.
Formed on April 22, 1997 as the merger of the
Kerala
Communist Party and the Maharashtra
Communist Party. The
CPI(ML) Maoist Unity
CPI(ML) MUC Spring Thunder KCP & MCP were state units formerly part of
Centre
the CPI(ML)
Central Reorganization Committee. The
CPI(ML) MUC merged
into the CPI(ML) Naxalbari in April, 1999.
Merged with CPI(ML) Janashakti COC faction
in 2000
to form CPI(ML) Unity Initiative, which in
CPI (M-L) New Initiative
turn
merged with CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] in June
2003.
Merged with CPI(ML) People’s War in Aug.
CPI (M-L) Party Unity
1998.
Formed on April 22, 1980. Was the largest
group engaged in
guerrilla warfare in India. Especially strong in
Vanguard, Engaged in Andhra
People’s War
People’s War, guerrilla Pradesh state. The People’s Guerrilla Army
CPI (M-L) People’s War Group
Voice of the war in many was set up by
(PWG)
Vanguard states. them. Affiliated with CCOMPOSA. Merged
with
MCC(I) in Sept. 2004 to form the CPI
(Maoist).
CPI (M-L) Red Flag Red Flag, "Mao’s Formed in 1987 as a splitoff from CPI(ML)
Red Star mass line." Central
Reorganization Committee. The origin and
main area
of influence is Kerala. Adopted new
constitution and
programme in 1997. Merged with CPI(ML)
[Sanyal Group]
in January 2005 to form a new party with the

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name CPI(ML).
Formed in the summer of 2003 as a merger of
the Communist
Organization of India (M-L) led by Kanu
Sanyal, and the
CPI(ML) Unity Initiative group. It attempted
CPI(ML) Right-center
CPI (M-L) [Sanyal Group] Class Struggle to
[Sanyal] formation.
reclaim the CPI(ML) name for itself. This
group in turn
merged with CPI(ML) Red Flag in January
2005 under the
CPI(ML) name.
Was formed in 1971 after S. N. Singh broke
with Charu
Mazumdar and set up his own CPI(ML)
CPI (M-L) [Satyanarayan
CPI(ML) [SNS] central committee.
Singh]
Merged with the CPI(ML) Unity Committee in
1977 to form
the CPI(ML) Provisional Central Committee.
Formed in 1972 by Mahadeo Mukerjee, who
CPI (M-L) Second Central nd was later expelled.
CPI(ML) 2 CC
Committee Was active in Bihar, etc. Merged into MCC(I)
in 2003.
Leader was K.P.R. Gopalan. Merged with the
Communist Party of Indian
CPIU (ML) CPI(ML)
Union (M-L)
[Sanyal Group] in November 2003.
Formed in 1969. Never part of CPI(ML).
Maoist Communist Centre MCC Merged with
RCCI (Maoist) in 2003 to form MCC(I).
Renamed upon merger of MCC and RCCI
(Maoist) in 2003.
Affiliated with CCOMPOSA and RIM. After
Engaged in
CPI(ML) PW,
armed
the most powerful group engaged in armed
Maoist Communist Centre Dakshindesh, struggle,
MCC(I) struggle in India.
(India) Lal Pataka mainly in
Formed the People’s Liberation Guerrilla
Bihar
Army in mid-2003.
& Jharkhand.
Merged with CPI(ML) People’s War in Sept.
2004 to form the
CPI (Maoist).
MCPI was a splinter group from the revisionist
CPI(Marxist). Although
Marxist Communist Party of People’s its Maoist credentials were weak, it worked
MCPI
India Democracy with some center-right
MLM groups. Merged with other forces to
form the MCPI(United) in 2005.
Punjab Coordination One of the state units of the AICCCR that did
Committee not join the original CPI(ML) when it was
PCCCR
of Communist formed
Revolutionaries in 1969. Merged with UCCRI(ML) in 1976.
Affiliated with CCOMPOSA and RIM.
Revolutionary Communist
Centered in Punjab
Centre, RCCI(Maoist)
state. Merged with MCC in Jan. 2003 to form
India (Maoist)
MCC(I).
CPI (M-L) Unity Initiative Formed in 2000 by CPI(ML) New Initiative
and CPI(ML)
Janashakti COC. Active in Bihar, etc. Merged
with
COI-ML in summer 2003 to form the
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CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group].

National/International Associations:
 Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia
(CCOMPOSA)
Formed in June 2001. Members as of its Second Annual Conference on September 15, 2002:
o Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal (M-L)
o Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) [Sri Lanka]
o Communist Party of East Bengal (M-L) [Bangladesh]
o Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
o Communist Party of India (M-L) People’s War
o Communist Party of India (M-L) Naxalbari
o Maobadi Punorgathan Kendro of PBSP [Bangladesh]
o Maoist Communist Centre (India)
o Purba Bangla Sarbohara Party, PBSP CC [Bangladesh]
o Revolutionary Communist Centre India (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist)
o Revolutionary Communist Centre India (Maoist) [Merged into MCC(I) in 2003.]
Note: The CPI(ML) People’s War and MCC(I) merged in Sept. 2004 to form the CPI
(Maoist).

 Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM)


Formed in 1984. Signatories of the Declaration of the Revolutionary Internationalist
Movement and Participating Organisations in RIM [From A World to Win, #29, (2002), p.
88]:
o Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist)
o Communist Party of Afghanistan
o Communist Party of Bangladesh (M-L) [BSD(ML)]
o Communist Party of India (M-L) Naxalbari
o Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist)
o Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
o Communist Party of Peru
o Communist Party of Turkey Marxist-Leninist
o Maoist Communist Centre (India) [Merged with CPI(ML) People’s War to form the
CPI (Maoist) in Sept. 2004.]
o Maoist Communist Party [Italy]
o Marxist-Leninist Communist Organisation of Tunisia
o Proletarian Party of Purba Bangla (PBSP) [Bangladesh]
o Revolutionary Communist Group of Colombia
o Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

General Information About Maoist-influenced Revolutionary


Groups in India
There are three main categories of revolutionary organizations in India which are either Maoist, or strongly
influenced by Maoism. At one end of the spectrum are groups which are either already engaged in armed
struggle, or else which support the idea of participating in armed struggle either immediately, or else after
short-term preparations are complete. This category includes:

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 CPI (Maoist), formed in Sept. 2004 by the merger of CPI(ML) People’s War and the Maoist
Communist Centre (India).
 CPI (M-L) Janashakti (Rajanna Group)
 CPI (M-L) Naxalbari
 Several more smaller groups.
The CPI (Maoist) is by far the largest of these, incorporating as it does the two largest pre-merger groups
engaged in guerrilla warfare. However, the Rajanna group of Janashkti is also apparently quite active.
According to an article in the Hindustan Times (May 9, 2002], "Of various radical leftists, People’s War
Group and Maoist Communist Centre are most ferociously pursuing the Marx-Lenin and Mao-inspired
protracted people’s war in at least seven states of India." The article went on to say that their connections
with the developing revolution in Nepal, and "reports of their bid to carve out a corridor from some areas of
MP [Madhya Pradesh], AP [Andhra Pradesh], Bihar and UP [Uttar Pradesh] up to Nepal have alarmed [the]
Indian government."
An article from "A World to Win News Service" (July 28, 2003) states:
A recent report on the Naxalite movement (as the Maoists are commonly called) by the Indian Home Ministry said that MCCI and
PW have "strongholds" in 23 districts in half of India’s 26 states, with a population of hundreds of millions of people. The Maoist
movement has been solidly entrenched among peasants and the rural poor since the Naxalbari uprising of 1967, but the report
argues that the threat to India’s central government is unprecedented.
At the other end of the spectrum are the groups that seem to have effectively abandoned the whole idea of
people’s war and/or armed revolution, and now focus on reformist struggle and the electoral path. The most
prominent organization in this group is:
 CPI (M-L) Liberation
And in between these two extremes there is a whole large middle ground. Many of the organizations here
favor what they call the "mass revolutionary line" or "Mao’s mass line". I believe that most of these groups
favor people’s war (and/or mass insurrection) at some point, but they think the ground is not yet prepared for
it, at least in most places in India. Among the "mass revolutionary line" groups are:
 CPI (ML) [A new party formed with the merger of CPI(ML) Red Flag and CPI(ML) [Sanyal
Group] in January 2005.
 Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (M-L)
 CPI (M-L) New Democracy [But this group seems to be leaning more to the left and toward
guerrilla warfare now.]
 Communist Party Reorganization Centre of India (M-L)
 Many more smaller groups.
Many of the revolutionary groups in India have diverse currents of political opinion within them, and it has
been a frequent occurance for a section of a party in one of these three main groups to split off and join up
with a party in one of the other three main groups. It seems that no party or group has yet been able to
demonstrate to a majority of the communist revolutionaries of India that it has figured out the best path to
revolution.

All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries


The Communist Party of India (Marxist) split off from the revisionist, Soviet-line Party (the CPI) in 1964.
But soon it became clear to many revolutionary communists in the CPI-M that it too was going revisionist.
Inspired by the historic Naxalbari uprising which began on May 25, 1967, these revolutionaries began
establishing their own publications and networks of contacts.
On November 12-13, 1967, many of these revolutionary communists from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar
Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and West Bengal, met and formed an organization they called the All India
Coordination Committee of Revolutionaries in the CPI(M), or AICCR.
But events were moving fast. On May 14, 1968, this committee was renamed the "All India Coordination
Committee of Communist Revolutionaries" (AICCCR), with Sushital Roy Chowdhury as its convener. It
decided to boycott all elections.
Two important groups of revolutionary communists were not part of the AICCCR: The Maoist Communist
Centre chose not to participate because of differences over the party-building line. And a group of
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revolutionaries from Andhra Pradesh under the leadership of Tarimala Nagi Reddy were excluded because
they disagreed that sufficient preparations had been made to launch an immediate people’s war.
In February 1969 the AICCCR unanimously decided to form a new communist party (though some state
units later refused to go along). This party, the original Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), was
launched on April 22nd, 1969, Lenin’s birthday. Charu Mazumdar was elected the General Secretary of the
Central Organizing Committee of the new party. With the founding of the CPI(ML) the AICCCR disolved
itself, though the state units in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab continued as independent organizations for
several years.

All India Peoples Resistance Forum


This mass organization was founded in 1992. It focused on the defense of democratic rights, opposition to
police murders of revolutionaries, building mass struggle against imperialist globalization, and so forth.
Some other revolutionary groups viewed the AIPRF as a front group for the CPI(ML) People’s War.
However, judging from the comments of the AIPRF supporters on the Internet, it seems that some of its
adherents viewed the organization as promoting a political program very different than that of the People’s
War Group. One AIPRF adherent said its approach was that of the "revolutionary mass line".
This organization may be defunct.

Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee of Communist


Revolutionaries
[Renamed in the early 1970s: Andhra Pradesh Committee of Communist Revolutionaries
(also known as the Andhra Pradesh Revolutionary Communist Committee)
Originally the Andhra Pradesh branch of the AICCCR which was initially a dissident group within the CPI
(Marxist) party. It was formed circa 1969 under the leadership of Tarimal Nagi Reddy, who was a member of
the legislative assembly in AP at the time. Other leaders were D.V. Rao, Chandra Pulla Reddy and Kolla
Venkaiah. Both C. P. Reddy and Rao had been active in the Telangana armed struggle, and Rao had prepared
the "Andhra Thesis" of the CPI(M).
The APCCCR split from the CPI(M) after the CPI(M) Burdwan plenum in April 1968. Eleven of the 14
district committees of CPI(M) in Andhra Pradesh went with the APCCCR. Around 60% of the CPI(M)
membership in AP, about 8,000 people, went over to the APCCCR, and they also took over the CPI(M)
publication Janashakti.
The APCCCR joined the AICCCR in September 1968, but was expelled from that group in February 1969
before the AICCCR went on to form the original CPI(ML) in April 1969, because of its opposition to:
 Declaring loyalty to the Communist Party of China.
 Immediate armed struggle.
 Boycotting all elections.
The APCCCR advocated "a mass line" whereas the AICCCR denounced all work in trade unions and other
mass organizations as "economism". The APCCCR saw the issue of participating or boycotting elections as
a tactical issue while the AICCCR viewed it as a strategic one.
After the expulsion of APCCCR from AICCCR, the latter organized its own new Andhra Pradesh branch,
mainly from the Srikakulam region. The Srikakulam District Committee of the APCCCR joined the
CPI(ML).
The APCCCR launched limited armed struggles in Warangal, Khammam, Karimnagar, Nalgonda, East
Dodavari, and other districts. It favored combining mass movements and armed struggle and opposed the
"annihilation line" of the CPI(ML). In April 1969 APCCCR issued a resolution entitled "Boycott Panchayat
Elections - Establish Village Soviets".
In December 1969 six of the nine State Committee members of APCCCR were arrested at a hotel in Madras,
including T. Nagi Reddy and D.V. Rao. This was a heavy blow to the organization. In July 1970 a new state
committee headed by Chandra Pulla Reddy was created.
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In 1971 there was a major split in the organization, and the faction led by C. P. Reddy left to form its own
independent CPI(ML) group. This group later merged (in 1973 or 1975?) with the CPI(ML) [Satayanarayan
Singh] group.
In 1975 the APCCCR/APRCC, together with the Northern Zonal Committee of the Revolutionary
Communist Unity Centre (ML), the West Bengal Communist Unity Centre, and the WBCCR, merged to
form the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (M-L).

Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India


This organization was formed in 1988 with the merger of the following groups:
 UCCRI(ML) faction led by Harbhajan Sohi (which split from UCCRI(ML) in 1979).
 UCCRI(ML) faction led by Anand (which split from UCCRI(ML) in 1988).
 The CPI(ML) Chandrashekar group.
 The Revolutionary Communist Party, led by Takra.
 The CPI(ML) Organizing Committee, led by Raghubir.
The two UCCRI(ML) factions both split off from the parent group over the same issues: the adoption by the
majority UCCRI(ML) group of the "Three Worlds" theory and their support for Deng Xiaoping in China.
The CCRI’s general political line was that of the "mass revolutionary line". This organization merged with
three other groups in August 1994 to form the CPRCI(ML).

Centre of Indian Communists


The CIC was a minor Maoist organization in Kerala. It was founded at a convention in Ernakulam in 1974
and included elements that had broken away from the CPI(M). It viewed the CPI(ML) as "Indian
Narodniks".
The CIC was one of ten Maoist groups banned by the central government on July 4, 1977. [No other
information available.]

Committee of Communist Revolutionaries


Was a middle of the road Maoist group in the West Bengal. According to an editorial on the CPI(ML) Red
Flag web site, sometime during the 2003-2004 time period the CCR merged into the CPI(ML) [Sanyal
Group].
The "CCR" has also been used as a shorthand name for the AICCCR, which existed in 1968-69, and for a
few of the other separate state organizations of the AICCCR which lingered after the original CPI(ML) was
formed in 1969 and the AICCCR itself formally disolved. One such state organization, the Punjab
Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries, continued in existence until 1976 when it merged
with the UCCRI.

Communist League of India (M-L)


Founded on Feb. 20, 1978, as a split off from the CPI(ML) Central Organising Committee [Ram Nath
faction]. It maintains that India is a less developed, but nevertheless capitalist country, and therefore requires
a socialist revolution rather than first having a new democratic revolution. The CLI(ML) is not to be
confused with the Communist League of India (without the "M-L"), which is a Trotskyite group.
Over the years more and more factions have developed within the CLI(ML):
 Ram Nath faction: Publishes the Hindi journal Lal Tara, and another publication by the name
of Gargi publication.
 A faction known by various names including "Parikalpana", "Rahul", etc., which has a large
publishing operation in Lucknow, and is working to build a trade union in Delhi.

10
 Organizationally the largest faction, operates in Delhi, Gujarat, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and
Uttar Pradesh. "This faction is trying to understand the problems of 20th century socialism
from critical perspectives." Publishes many books, including Globalisation of Capital.
 A faction which also calls itself the CPI(ML) Re-organizing Committee. Publishes a party
organ called Lal Salaam every six months and maintains a web sites at www.cli-ml.org and
www.cli-ml.blogspot.com. This faction is mainly engaged in organizing industrial workers in
nothern India.

Communist Organisation of India (M-L)


Formed in May 1985 as a merger of 6 CPI(ML) groups:
 Organising Committee of Communist Revolutionaries, led by Kanu Sanyal.
 CPI(ML) Kaimur Range, led by Ravi Shankar.
 CPI(ML) Central Organising Committee, led by Umadhar Singh.
 A faction of Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (ML), led by Subodh Mitra.
 Indian Communist Party, led by U. Krishnappa.
 Liberation Front, led by Sabuj Sen.
Kanu Sanyal, who was one of the leaders of the Naxalbari revolt, was elected General Secretary of
COI(ML). The organization was near the right end of the CPI(ML) spectrum.
In the summer of 2003 the COI-ML merged with the CPI(ML) Unity Initiative to form a new organization
which attempted to reclaim the original CPI(ML) name, but which I refer to as CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] to
avoid confusion. (In January 2005, this CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] merged with CPI(ML) Red Flag, and uses
the CPI(ML) name for the new party.)

Communist Party of India (Maoist)


The CPI (Maoist) is by far the largest and most important political party in India which is now engaged in
revolutionary guerrilla warfare. It was formed on Sept. 21, 2004 by the merger of the CPI(ML) People’s War
group and MCC(I).
The press statement of Oct. 14, 2004, which announced the formation of the CPI (Maoist), stated that the
political ideology of the merged party is Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, and that it will continue its struggle
against both right and left deviations, and "particularly against revisionism, by taking this as the main danger
for the communist movement as a whole." The new party "will still seek to unite all genuine Maoist groups
that remain outside this unified party." The press release continues:
The immediate aim and programme of the Maoist party is to carry on and complete the already ongoing and advancing New
Democratic Revolution in India as a part of the world proletarian revolution by overthrowing the semi-colonial, semi-feudal
system under the neo-colonial form of indirect rule, exploitation and control. This revolution will remain directed against
imperialism, feudalism and comprador bureaucratic capitalism. This revolution will be carried out and completed through armed
agrarian revolutionary war, i.e. protracted people’s war with the armed seizure of power remaining as its central and principal task,
encircling the cities from the countryside and thereby finally capturing them. Hence the countryside as well as the PPW
(Protracted People’s War) will remain as the ‘center of gravity’ of the party’s work, while urban work will be complimentary to it.
Since armed struggle will remain as the highest and main form of struggle and the army as the main form of organization of this
revolution, hence it will continue to play a decisive role, whereas the UF [United Front] will be built in the course of armed
struggle and for the seizure of power through armed struggle. Mass organizations and mass struggles are necessary and
indispensable but their purpose is to serve the war. We also hereby declare that the two guerrilla armies of the CPI(ML)[PW] and
MCCI--the PGA and the PLGA--have been merged into the unified PLGA (Peoples’ Liberation Guerrilla Army). Hereafter, the
most urgent task i.e. principal task of the party is to develop the unified PLGA into a full-fledged People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
and transforming the existing Guerrilla Zones into Base Areas, thereby advancing wave upon wave towards completing the New
Democratic Revolution....
Apart from this the unified party will continue to pay added attention to building a new wave of revolutionary mass movements on
various political and other issues of the people. It will involve all the vast sections of the masses in these struggles directed against
imperialism, feudalism and the comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie.
Com. Ganapathy (or Ganapati) of the People’s War group was elected General Secretary of the merged
party.

11
Communist Party of India (M-L) [Original party]
[Much of the information here has been taken from the historical information pages prepared by various
CPI(ML) groups on the Web, and especially from "A Saga of Revolutionary Heroism, Supreme Sacrifice
and Absolute Determination".]
This is the original CPI(ML) party, which was formally launched on April 22nd, 1969, Lenin’s birthday. [See
AICCCR for some background information on the creation of the party.]
The two most prominent leaders were Charu Mazumdar (or Majumdar) and Kanu Sanyal. Mazumdar was
elected General Secretary of the Central Organizing Committee at the time the party was formed. He and
Sanyal were the leaders of the famous Naxalbari uprising in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal in 1967.
Mazumdar remained the top leader of the new party until his murder (after 12 days of torture) by the
Calcutta police on July 28, 1972.
The early party history was anything but smooth. The Naxalbari uprising was suppressed by the
CPI(Marxist) party which was already in power in a united front government in West Bengal in 1967. Many
revolutionaries bolted from the CPI(M) after this treachery, but the hostility of the CPI(M) leaders toward
the revolutionaries increased.
On May 1st, 1969, one week after the CPI(ML) was formed, the CPI(M) tried to disrupt a massive CPI(ML)
May Day meeting in Calcutta, and this led to armed clashes. Over the next few years the CPI(M) would be
responsible for the death of over a thousand CPI(ML) members.
The revolutionaries who formed the CPI(ML) had already begun setting up guerrilla zones in West Bengal,
Uttar Pradesh, and especially at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. But severe repression from the government
came down on all these areas, especially Srikakulam. Seven top members of the party were murdered by the
government on May 26-27, 1969, and several other top leaders were murdered at the end of that year. This
led to an unprecedented uprising of students and youth in Calcutta and throughout West Bengal.
After the Deshabrati publication offices were raided by the government on April 27, 1970, the party was
forced to go underground. On July 10-11, two top leaders of the Srikakulam uprising were captured and
murdered by the police while in captivity. The Srikakulam guerrilla zone began to suffer reversals.
In 1971 the national government deployed the army to crush the movement in West Bengal, and thousands
of people were killed. Over 50,000 people were imprisoned, and more party leaders were murdered.
The crackdown of the government forces and the collapse of the initial attempts at people’s war, led to
considerable ideological discord and chaos in the early party. This in turn led to numerous splits beginning
in 1971. All of this intensified tremendously after Charu Mazumdar was murdered in 1972. As one party
history comments, "With his martyrdom, the last vestige of the Party’s central authority collapses."

Communist Party of India (M-L) [New party formed in 2005.]


This new party, using the old name, CPI(ML), was formed in January 2005 through the merger of the
CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] (which officially calls itself simply the CPI(ML) already) and the CPI(ML) Red
Flag group.
This party seems to be close to the middle-right part of the spectrum of Maoist or Maoist-influenced
organizations in India. Neither group which merged was engaged in armed struggle, and it is unlikely that
the newly merged group will be any time soon either. On the other hand, those in this trend also seem to
disagree with the electoral focus of the CPI(ML) Liberation party, even though they both participate in
elections sometimes themselves. Their strategy is more to try to organize the masses in broad political
struggle.
This new party is one of the many signs that the still highly fragmented Maoist forces in India are in the
process of merging organizationally into three main trends.
Just before the 2006 West Bengal legislative election two regional party leaders, Somnath Chatterjee (not to
be confused with the Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee) from Ukhra and Pradip Banerjee from
Kolkata, broke away from the new party.

12
Communist Party of India (M-L) Bhaijee Group
The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group was formed in 1990 by S. R. Bhaijee, that it is
active in Bihar, and specifically in West and East Champaran.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Central Organising Committee


Origins and history mostly unknown to me. One source says the group, or part of it, dissolved in 1977, and
that the Communist Organisation of India (M-L).

Communist Party of India (M-L) Central Reorganization


Committee
The CPI(ML) CRC was formed in 1979. It held its First All India Conference in 1982, and its second
Conference in 1987. It was one of the original founders of RIM in 1984. In 1987 it had a major split, and the
CPI(ML) Red Flag party was born.
But political discord and confusion continued in the CPI(ML) CRC. Under the direction of its top leader, K.
Venu, the organization was dissolved in the fall of 1991, and its national newspaper, Mass Line, ceased
publication. The bizarre reasoning that led to this drastic liquidationist action by the Venu group was
reprinted in issue 17 of A World to Win (1992). In the same issue there were also reprinted severe criticisms
of this dissolution (and other political errors), criticisms by both party members and by Bob Avakian for
RIM. A later issue of A World to Win (issue 26 in 2000) carried an article, "The Strategy for People’s War in
India", by former members (who were then in the CPI(ML) Maoist Unity Centre) criticizing the CPI(ML)
CRC from a leftist perspective.
Although the national party was dissolved, the state organizations continued functioning as separate parties.
Two of them, the Kerala Communist Party and the Maharashtra Communist Party, merged together to form
the CPI(ML) Maoist Unity Centre in 1997. This organization later merged with the CPI(ML) Naxalbari in
April 1999.
K. Venu himself later joined the Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy party. He ran in the 1996 Kerala
assembly elections from Kondugallur, and came in second with 37,234 votes.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Central Team


Was founded in December 1977 as a breakaway group from the CPI(ML) Provisional Central Committee
[the Satyanarayan Singh/Chandra Pulla Reddy faction of the CPI(ML)], and originally upheld the line of
Charu Mazumdar. In 1978 it had a rectification campaign against the annihilation policy (assassinations of
individual class enemies) and came to the conclusion that mass organizations were indispensible as well as
mass struggles. It still thought that the time was ripe for armed struggle, and continued to favor attempting to
unify the CPI(ML) around the reorganization plan of the 1969 Central Committee [the "Eighth Central
Committee"].
The CPI(ML) Central Team was active in Punjab, and remains so in Maharashtra and West Bengal.
In Punjab they published the very influential revolutionary journal, Surkh Rekha. During the Khalistani
period (1980s) the Punjab section of this group worked with the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of
India in building the important Front Against Repression and Communalism. This experience won the
Punjab section of the Party over to the strategy of the "mass revolutionary line". In August 1994 the Punjab
section, led by Roshan, merged with CCRI and two other groups to form the Communist Party
Reorganization Centre of India (M-L). Surkh Rekha, of course, became a publication of CPRCI(ML).
However the Maharashtra and West Bengal sections of the Central Team refused to go along with this and
accused the Punjab section of betraying the old CPI(ML) movement. They continue to function as an
independent organization under the name CPI(ML) Central Team. Before the 1999 Lok Sabha elections

13
Central Team signed a boycott call together with the CPI(ML) People’s War and the Revolutionary
Communist Centre of India (Maoist).

Communist Party of India (M-L) [Chandra Pulla Reddy Group]


Chandra Pulla Reddy was originally associated with T. Nagi Reddy in the Andhra Pradesh Coordination
Committee of Communist Revolutionaries. In 1971 he split off to form his own group, and then around 1973
(or 1975?) merged it into the CPI(ML) [S. N. Singh] group. That group in turn merged with another group to
become the CPI(ML) Provisional Central Committee in 1977. In 1980 C. P. Reddy broke with the S. N.
Singh group and formed his own CPI(ML) organization again.
That group has apparently evolved into being one of the many CPI(M-L) Janashakti factions.

Communist Party of India (M-L) [Chandrashekar Group]


Merged with 4 other groups in 1988 to form the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries in India
.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Janashakti


"Janashakti" means "people’s power". This group was formed on July 30, 1992 by a merger of 7 groups. The
unity document was signed by the following individuals representing 6 of these groups:
 K. Rama Chandran
CPI(ML) Resistance
 Madhu
UCCRI(ML) [Muktigami faction]
 Paila Vasudev Rao
CPI(ML) [faction led by P. V. Rao which split from CPI(ML) New Democracy]
 Kaushik Banerjee
CPI(ML) [faction led by Khokan Mazumdar]
 Parimal Dasgupta
CCCR [Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries, led by P. Dasgupta]
 Jiten Dasgupta
CRGU [Communist Revolutionary Group for Unity]
th
(The 7 group was the CPI(ML) Agami Yug.)
The unity was precarious. CPI(ML) Janashakti had a split in 1996, when the "COC" faction broke away and
went on to merge with another group to form the CPI(ML) Unity Initiative. Soon further splits occurred until
there were seven separate factions operating independently in 2002. (The new factions were not necessarily
the same as the original groups.)
It is said that Janashakti was originally based on the "revolutionary mass line" approach of Chandra Pulla
Reddy and T. Nagi Reddy, but that it also used a combination of legal and illegal methods of struggle.
Things seemed to be going well for a while, and a trade union (All India Federation of Trade Unions) and a
peasant movement were developing strongly. But there must have also been some serious problems, because
this is when the splits began.
More recently at least some of the factions that still use the Janashakti name have switched to more serious
armed struggle, and the party is now illegal and underground.
The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that CPI(ML) Janashakti is active in Bihar, and specifically in
Kaimur and East Champaran. But their primary area of activity is in Andhra Pradesh.
In an undated statement prepared for a small international gathering of M-L parties, and posted on the web
(at http://www.icmlpo.de/us/6con/country/indienjan.htm), the Central Committee of an unspecified faction of the
CPI(ML) Janashakti says (excerpts):
The M-L movement which was supposed to be the revolutionary alternative in India is still now in a divided state with a number
of M-L party-groups existing in India. In the decade of ’70s our movement was defeated mainly due to the ‘left’ line we practiced.

14
Then onwards, although the process of correction started, but the line that appeared in the name of ‘mass line’ has so far been
unable to solve the main problem concerning developing the class struggle into the level of regular guerrilla warfare.
‘Left’ hangovers are still very much there in different forms like making the tactics of participation in the elections or boycotting
the same as a matter of standard or dividing line between revolutionaries and revisionists. But the main problem in our movement
is not the continuation of the ‘left’ mistakes; rather the right-deviation in different forms is [the] main danger.
The big and massive peasant struggle which was developed in the vast region of Andhra Pradesh in the decade[s] of the 70’s and
80’s and which was finally defined as ‘resistance struggle’ by the main leader of this movement, Com. C. P. Reddy, and was
adopted by us, CPI (M-L) Janashakti, as a step towards guerrilla struggle, is under review now.
We could have been in a much better situation now to answer some of the major problems, including the main one. But for the
internal problems of groupism, splittism and rightist orientation of a section of us we lost some valuable time. CPI (M-L)
Janashakti is on its way to come out with a solution not only in theory but also in practice as well. We are confident that we will
be able to do so.
As mentioned, CPI(ML) Janashakti has gone through a long period of internal confusion, factionalism and
splits. And one of the top leaders and spokesman for one important faction apparently turned out to be in
cahoots with the police.
According to The Hindu [11/04/2004], in October/November 2004 one of the Janashakti groups, the "South
Regional Provincial Committee" in Andhra Pradesh, merged into the CPI(M-L) Chandra Pulla Reddy group.
One of the central committee members of this combined group is identified as "Radhakka". Apparently this
combined group is now known as the CPI(M-L) Janashakti (Chandra Pulla Reddy Group). At least this is
how it is identified in another article in The Hindu on Oct. 27, 2004. Sometimes, however, the "Janashakti"
part of the name seems to be omitted.
The official spokesman for this group is identified by The Hindu as M. V. Prasad, and one of the Andhra
Pradesh state party leaders for the group is N. V. Khrishnaiah. On Oct. 26, 2004 M. V. Prasad told The
Hindu that the peace talks between this group and the state government would likely not be successful, since
the revolutionaries refused to give up their arms, and the government insisted that they do so.
One of the strongest Janashakti groups is that led by K. Rajanna, which is centered in Andhra Pradesh but
operates in other states as well. Under his leadership this faction of Janashakti has announced that it is
switching from the strategic defensive to the tactical offensive in the the armed struggle. An article in the
national Indian newspaper, The Hindu (Feb. 8, 2003) reports a portion of an interview with Rajanna as
follows (excerpts):
Rajanna said [that] though there were some setbacks for the party in the recent times, the conditions prevailing in the country due
to liberalisation and globalisation could easily be exploited in favour of revolution....
Rajanna admitted that the armed struggle of the ML groups was still in [its] primary stage (since it began in 1968) due to
limitations of the ‘step approach.’ The approach was to build mass movements first and then hold on to passive resistance and
believe in the grand finale of armed resistance. It was wrong, he said.
Armed resistance was inevitable in guerrilla warfare and a regular army must be built, he said. Opportunities like [the] movement
for a separate Telengana [state] should lead to [the] creation of youth groups in every village to spread the message of the
revolution. The party would fight the degenerative tendencies with greater commitment and would concentrate on disarming [the]
enemy and arming the people, he said.
The situation was conducive for building armed resistance in the country as reforms would not come with a human face. The
forces of new economic revolution were bestowing extreme identities on people and the result was visible in India in the form of
‘Hindu fascism,’ he said.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Jan Samvad


[No specific information available.]

Communist Party of India (M-L) Liberation


This is the largest CPI(ML) group, and the one furthest to the right. Apparently it has firmly settled on a
strategy of seeking power through elections. Nevertheless, even in this group there may still be many
individuals strongly sympathetic to the idea of armed revolution at some point in the future.
After the original CPI(ML) split, with Satyanarayan Singh breaking with Charu Mazumdar and forming a
competing central committee, the pro-Mazumdar party split again between pro- and anti-Lin Biao factions.
The current CPI(ML) Liberation evolved out of that anti-Lin Biao faction. That, of course is to its credit, but
its eventual evolution towards economism and the electoral strategy for "revolution" is another matter.
15
Vinod Mishra was elected general secretary of the party in 1975, and starting around 1977 he began pushing
a reform movement. Some of the early steps sound pretty good, such as his 1979 declaration that mass
organizations should be created on every front. (Mazumdar and his followers had viewed this as
economism.)
But gradually Mishra pushed things to greater and greater extremes. In 1982 he got the Party to form what
was called the "Indian People’s Front" and began contesting elections. At first this was just a small part of
the work of the Liberation group, but it gradually became more and more central. Instead of a perspective of
building the mass struggle toward an armed overthrow of the ruling class (and sometimes using elections to
help do this), the strategic perspective shifted to social change through the ballot box. (But the Party only
won 1/3 of 1% of the national vote in the 2004 parliamentary election.)
There were plenty of other signs of creeping revisionism in the group. It maintained a cozy relationship with
the CP of China during the Deng years, for example.
Vinod Mishra died in 1998, but the current general secretary (Dipankar Bhattacharya) and the other
leadership continue on the revisionist course.
The Party is strongest in Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand, though it has units in many other states.
CPI(ML) Liberation’s mass organizations include:
 All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU)
 All India Peasants’ Coordination Committee
 All India Agricultural Labour Association (AIALA)
 All India Students Association (AISA)
 Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA)
 All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA)
Publications: Liberation, ML Update
Web site: http://www.cpiml.org
Excerpt from a recent Hindustan Times article (May 9, 2002):
Formerly known as CPI(ML) which was founded by Comrade Charu Majumdar in 1969, it is
seen "close" to "revolutionaries" although it has joined [the] mainstream electoral
system and claims to have distanced itself from ultra-leftist violence over the years.
The name CPI (ML) Liberation was given by Subrato Dutta, alias Jauhar, after he
reorganised CPI (ML) in early 70s following [a] severe crackdown on ultra-leftists by
the government.
Area of Operation: It is active in a number of states including Assam, West Bengal and
Bihar.
Cadres: It has more than 5000 full time members and claims a total of over 2.5 lakh
members. [A ‘lakh’ is 100,000. —S.H.]
Frontal Organisations: It runs five organisations - All India Students Association,
Bihar Pradesh Kisan Sabha, All India Coordination Committee of Trade Unions, All India
Progressive Women’s Association and Jan Sanskritik Manch.

Communist Party of India (M-L) [Mahadev Mukherjee]


The early Maoist movement in India was prone to much disunity and many splits, both before and after the
formation of the original CPI(ML). When the prime leader of the CPI(ML), Charu Mazumdar, was killed by
the Calcutta police in 1972 the leaders who replaced him were Sharma and Mahadev Mukherjee. But by that
time only a small part of the original CPI(ML) organization remained under their authority. They continued
the dogmatic approach that led to so many splits, and the central authority of the CPI(ML) further collapsed.
At that point Mukherjee and Sharma themselves had a falling out, and the Mukherjee faction expelled
Sharma. After that, the remaining CPI(ML) group that Mukherjee was associated with itself split over the
question of Lin Biao [Lin Piao, old style]. In this split (in 1972 I think), Mukherjee led the pro-Lin Biao
faction, which I believe became the CPI(ML) Second Central Committee. However, after a while his own
faction expelled him! At this point Mukherjee formed a small new group which he continues to call the
CPI(ML), but which I refer to as the CPI(ML) [Mahadev Mukherjee] faction to avoid confusion.
This is a small, very idiosyncratic group. It’s web site still includes a picture of Lin Biao [Lin Piao, old style]
and one of his speeches! It claims to be the only "real" CPI(ML). It is an underground party and is said to

16
have some organizational presence in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman Nicobar Islands, West Bengal and
New Delhi. It holds rallies and mass meetings only in the Naxalbari and Siliguri regions of West Bengal.
Web site: http://www.cpiml.s4u.org

Communist Party of India (M-L) Maharashtra


[No specific information available.]

Communist Party of India (M-L) Maoist Unity Centre


Formed on April 22, 1997, by a merger of the Kerala Communist Party and the Maharashtra Communist
Party. The KCP and MCP were themselves formed from state units of the CPI(ML) Central Reorganization
Committee after it was disbanded by the liquidationist leader K. Venu.
In April 1999 this group merged into the CPI(ML) Naxalbari.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Nai Pahal


[No specific information available.]

Communist Party of India (M-L) Naxalbari


The founding date and earliest history are as yet unknown to me.
In April 1999 the CPI(ML) Maoist Unity Centre merged into CPI(ML) Naxalbari. And following the All
India Conference of the CPI(ML) Red Flag in 2000, a group under the leadership of someone named "Rauf"
split off from Red Flag and then merged with CPI(ML) Naxalbari. Rauf is now the Secretary of CPI(ML)
Naxalbari.
Rauf had been the leader of the small CPI(ML) Red Flag unit in Andhra Pradesh. A large part of the
leadership of that unit was killed by police in raids during the 1980s, and the unit never recovered. This is
probably a large part of the reason that Rauf and his new group favor immediate armed struggle.
CPI(ML) Naxalbari is affiliated with CCOMPOSA and RIM.
Excerpt from the RCPUSA’s RW (#1200, May 25, 2003):
One of the parties descended from the original CPI (ML) which continues to uphold the banners of Mazumdar and Maoism is the
CPI (ML) (Naxalbari), like the MCC a participating party of RIM, which is continuing to work for the unity of the Maoist
revolutionaries in a single center in India. The CPI (ML) (Naxalbari) has been advancing especially in the states of Kerala,
Maharastra [sic] and Karnataka.

Communist Party of India (M-L) New Democracy


The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group was formed in 1988 by Yatendra Kumar, and
that it is active in Bihar, and specifically in Rohtas, Kaumru, East Champaran, Darbhanga, Samastipur,
Mazaffarpur, Dhanbad and Ranchi. However, it is also active in numerous other states. It is said to have been
formed from a faction which split off from the CPI(ML) [Chandra Pulla Reddy].
The party is strongest in Andhra Pradesh, but also has branches in West Bengal, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Delhi, Orissa, Haryana, and elsewhere. In Andhra Pradesh it is usually known as the CPI(ML)
Prajapantha. It has one member in the Legislative Assembly in Andhra Pradesh, Narsaiah Gummadi from
the consituency Yellandu and another elected member in Bihar, Umadhar Prasad Singh. The party works
both with legal and illegal methods.
In an undated statement prepared for a small international gathering of M-L parties, and posted on the web
(at http://www.icmlpo.de/us/6con/country/indiennd.htm ), the CPI(ML) New Democracy group says in a statement
(excerpts):

17
Among the organizations rejecting Deng revisionism, two trends are more or less clearly defined—those upholding the
revolutionary mass line and those undertaking anarchist-terrorist activities. The latter organizations propagate that they are
conducting civil war against the Indian Government. They also claim to have established the liberated areas and guerilla zones.
However, their concept of the liberated areas and guerilla zones differs sharply from the teachings of Comrade Mao about the
liberated areas and guerilla zones. Activities conducted by them do not correspond to the level of the mass movement nor are they
trying to develop the mass movement systematically.
Our party—CPI (ML) New Democracy—follows revolutionary mass line. Some other organizations too are practicing broadly
similar line. We consider that there are no liberated areas in India. It is also not correct that there is ongoing civil war in India
being conducted by any one or more of the communist revolutionary organizations.
Ours is a semi-feudal, semi-colonial country at the stage of New Democratic Revolution with agrarian revolution as its axis. The
agrarian revolution is the primary task before the communist revolutionary forces. [The] agrarian revolutionary movement faces
armed attacks from the feudal forces, their henchmen and security forces. In the state of Bihar feudal-criminal gangs have been
organized as private armies to attack and massacre the poor peasants and agricultural laborers to crush the revolutionary forces
and the movement. Hence the revolutionary forces have to face the task of countering these attacks from the beginning of the
agrarian struggle. Revolutionary forces resist these attacks by organizing all forms of struggle including open democratic
movement[s] and self-defense squads and militant groups.
In some areas of [the] agrarian revolutionary the communist revolutionary organizations, including our party, are conducting
resistance struggle, i.e. building, developing and extending [the] agrarian revolutionary movement facing the repression and
attacks of the feudal-criminal-police forces. CPI (ML) New Democracy is implementing the line of developing the agrarian
movement under its leadership in the direction of building areas of sustained resistance….
Our Party is taking building [the] agrarian revolutionary movement as its primary task. On the other hand we are developing joint
struggles particularly on the impact of the new economic policies and subservience of the ruling classes to the imperialists. We are
trying to build joint movement[s] along with other revolutionary and struggling forces against the increasing loot and plunder of
our country by the imperialists as well as against the attacks of feudal criminal gangs against poor peasants. We are also
undertaking joint movement[s] with other forces on the issues of the people.
Despite the statements above, the New Democracy Group seems to be leaning more towards supporting
guerrilla warfare recently. It says it "totally rejects the path of parliamentarism". Whereas it was once a
staunch opponent of the PWG, it later joined hands with them to form the joint mass organization, Forum
Against Imperialist Globalisation (FAIG).
Other mass organizations that New Democracy participates in (as of the fall of 2007) include:
 All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS), a peasant organization founded Dec. 12-14, 2000
at a conference in Andhra Pradesh.
 Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU)
 Progressive Youth League (PYL)
 Naujawan Bharat Sabha (NBS)
 Progressive Organization of Women (POW)
 Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan (PMS)
Publications of New Democracy includ New Democracy in English, and other publications in Marathi,
Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, Bengali and Oriya.
New Democracy web site: http://cpimlnd.org

Communist Party of India (M-L) New Initiative


Formation and history unknown to me. It was led by Arvind Sinha. It merged with CPI(ML) Janashakti
COC faction in 2000 to form the CPI(ML) Unity Initiative, which in turn merged with the CPI(ML) [Sanyal
Group] in June 2003.

Communist Party of India (M-L) New Proletarian


[No specific information available.]

Communist Party of India (M-L) Organising Committee

18
This group was also known as the Bihar-Bengal Committee, CPI(ML), and was led by B. N. Sharma. At one
time it worked in close cooperation with the UCCRI(ML) in trade union and other work. In 1988 the
CPI(ML)OC merged with four other groups to form the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India.
However, confusingly, there are some suggestions that the group (or a part of it) may still exist as an
independent organization. The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group is active in Bihar, and
specifically in Kaimur, under the leadership of B. N. Sharma. But perhaps the newspaper was just not up to
date on the latest organizational adjustments.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Party Unity


Based in Jehenabad, Bihar. Merged with CPI(ML) People’s War on August 11, 1998.
Excerpt from a recent Hindustan Times article (May 9, 2002):
Active in Bihar, it was formerly known as CPI (ML) Party Unity. Formed in 1978 in Bihar
under N Prasad’s leadership, it merged with People’s War on Aug 11, 1999 [actually 1998
—S.H.].
Area of Operation: It is active in 25 districts of Bihar.
Frontal Organisations: Six organisations - Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Parishad, Nari Mukti
Sangharsh Samiti, Shramik Sangharsh Manch, Democratic Students Union, Bharat Naujawan
Sabha and Jharkhand Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Parishad.

Communist Party of India (M-L) People’s War


The CPI(ML) People’s War group (also known as the PWG) was formed in 1980, and merged with the
MCC(I) group on Sept. 21, 2004 to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist). While it existed, the
People’s War Group was the largest revolutionary organization in India actively engaged in armed struggle.
It was centered in Andhra Pradesh state, but also had smaller operations in many other states. It was a
member of CCOMPOSA [the Coordinating Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia].
The PWG went through a long history of ups and downs, and was clearly on the upswing again in the
several years before its merger with MCC(I).
The party was founded on April 22, 1980 [Lenin’s birthday] in Andhra Pradesh by Kondapalli
Seetharamaiah, apparently out of a portion of the CPI(ML) Central Organising Committee. Seetharamaiah
had been the leader of the Andhra Pradesh branch of the COC. But he was expelled from the PWG in 1991.
The PWG always advocated armed struggle and refused to participate in elections. In 1998, the CPI(ML)
Party Unity based in Bihar merged into the PWG.
On Decemer 2, 1999, three politburo members were abducted, tortured and extrajudicially executed by the
Indian police.
The PWG established its People’s Guerrilla Army in 2000 which integrated many previously autonomous
military units ("dalams"). There were thousands of members of these dalams. The PWG and PGA were
mainly active in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and the Midnapore district of West Bengal.
The PWG held its first congress in 2001. (It was called the "Second Congress", however, because the
original CPI(ML) held its first congress in 1970.)
At most times the Andhra Pradesh state government proclaimed the PWG as illegal, but there were other
periods of modus vivendi and peace talks.
The magazine People’s March was close to the PWG, and later the CPI (Maoist), and reported on their
activities until it suppressed by the government in December 2007, and its editor arrested.
* * *
Excerpt about the CPI(ML) PW from the RW (#1200, May 25, 2003):
The CPI (ML) (PW) has strongholds in broad rural areas in the states of Andhra [Pradesh], Maharashtra and Orissa, as well as
Bengal, Bihar and elsewhere.
Excerpts from a recent Hindustan Times article (May 9, 2002):
Formed by Kondapalli Seetharamaiah (KS) on April 22, 1980, it is the most dominant
Naxalite force in India with about 54 Dallas (forest squads) in Andhra Pradesh alone.
12 others are active in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand,
Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Kerala. It has claimed thousands of

19
lives besides destroying property worth crores. It has "links" with Pakistan’s ISI,
Nepal Maoists and CCOMPOSA. [A ‘crore’ is 10 million. The claim about links to ISI, the
Pakistan government’s spy organization, was almost certainly a government lie, and was
vociferously denied by PW itself. —S.H.]
Area of operation: Andhra Pradesh remains its main area of operation where they hold
sway in 12 of the 23 districts. These include Warangal, Khammam, Nizamabad, Midak,
Nalgonda, MahaBubhagar, Adilabad, East Godawari and Karimnagar.
Cadres: According to police it has 1,100 full time "underground cadres" besides "over
5000 over-ground militants". Women constitute 30 per cent of PWG. Each of the 54 dalams
in AP comprises 9-12 members. AP police say it had 74 dalams at its height in 1997. It
has raised at least four military platoons comprising 25-30 cadres each.
Skill and Firepower: Like any military organisation it conducts periodic military
training that includes jungle warfare skills. Over the years its cadres have gained
expertise in techniques of insurgency like mine laying and ambush. It has an awesome
arsenal that include AK-47 rifles, revolvers, DBBL (double barrel) and SBBL guns, which
count in thousands.
Hit List: Its hit list includes almost all the key political leaders of the state. Over
700 people of Telengana region, including MLAs, MPs, Zilla Parishad chairmen and Mandal
Presidents and landlords, are provided round the clock security in view of Naxal
threat. More than 225 political leaders, including those of the ruling Telugu Desam
Party, Congress, BJP, CPI and CPM besides rich traders have been killed by PWG in the
last 10 years. During the last one year, Naxalites have attacked 19 government
buildings (including police stations) and 4,000 RTC buses besides causing extensive
damage to railways.
Sources of Income: As per the state sources, extortion remains the main source of PWG
funds. An amount of more than Rs 10 crores is collected from contractors, traders,
businessmen, professionals like doctors, lawyers, accountants and even government
officials, informed sources say. From HT Archives) [A ‘crore’ is 10,000,000. —S.H.]
People’s Guerrilla Army: It was launched by PWG on Dec 2, 2000, reportedly on the
pattern of [the] New People’s [Army] of [the] Philippines and [the] People’s Liberation
Army of Peru with an objective of countering security forces offensive against
Naxalites. PGA has started its separate branches in parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, North
Telangana (AP) and in [the] tribal belt of Dandkaranya which includes parts of AP,
Maharashtra, MP and Orissa. It aims to establish a strong network across India.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Praja Pratighatana


Also known as the CPI(ML) People’s Retribution. This group is apparently engaged in some form of armed
struggle. [No other information available.]

Communist Party of India (M-L) Prajashakti


Also known as the CPI(ML) People’s Power. [No other information available.]

Communist Party of India (M-L) Prathighatana


Also known as the CPI(ML) Retribution or the CPI(ML) [Phani Bagchi]. This group is a split-off from
CPI(ML) Praja Pratighatana and is apparently also engaged in some form of armed struggle. It has a
publication named Pratighatana.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Provisional Central Committee


The General Secretary of this party is Santosh Rana, and the party is sometimes referred to as the CPI(ML)
[Santosh Rana Group].
Excerpt from the Wikipedia:

20
The PCC, CPI(ML) evolved out of the group loyal to Satyanarayan Singh from the original Communist Party of India (Marxist-
Leninist). Singh rebelled against the party leader Charu Majumdar in 1971, provoking a split. In April 1973 Singh’s party was
reorganised.
Santosh Rana had broken with Charu Majumdar in 1971, and later joined Singh’s group. During the period 1975-80 the
Chandrapulla Reddy group (which in 1971 had broken away from the Andhra Pradesh Committee of Communist Revolutionaries)
based in Andhra Pradesh formed a part of Singh’s CPI(ML).
Singh’s CPI(ML) was amongst the first of the ML-factions that started participating in elections. The party gave some sort of
support to the attempt of the Janata Party-movement to bring down the regime of Indira Gandhi, something that the more orthodox
ML-factions saw as treachery. In 1977 Santosh Rana was elected to the West Bengal state assembly from the Gopiballavpur
constituency (one of the areas where the CPI(ML) had started armed struggle following the model of the Naxalbari uprising).
Rana got 13,401 votes (25.67%), which was enough to defeat the CPI(M), Indian National Congress and Janata Party candidates.
Singh’s CPI(ML) were also able to register the party name Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) with the Election
Commission of India, but the registration was later lost.
Around 1980 Singh’s group appeared as the strongest ML-faction, but with the exit of Chandrapulla Reddy and other splits the
party shrunk. In 1984 a severe split occurred, with the loyalists of Singh opposed to the group of Santosh Rana and Vaskar Nandy.
The Singh faction levelled the following accusation: "In our organisation also, Nandy’s close associates established contacts with
a foreign voluntary agency and a native voluntary agency financed by Wester monopoly capital, keeping it secret from the POC
and the general secretary of the party, S N Singh. They established contact with Rural Aid Consortium of Tagore Society which is
financed by West European countries and the USA and with one Danish Organisation on the Plea of providing relief to the people
of Gobiballabpur in West Bengal and some areas in Bihar. Lakhs of rupees were received for digging tanks, constructing school
building opening a sewing training center and distributing chickens and cattle to the needy. It also came to our notice that money
was being received by some of our leaders from the Lutheran Church. When it came to light to the PCC members, an intense
ideological struggle burst forth in the party on this issue." (Our differences with Nandy-Rana group, PCC-CPI(ML), p. 29.)
The group of Rana came to win a majority in the leadership (the provisional central committee) and Singh’s followers formed a
new committee (and de facto a new party). Singh died shortly afterwards.
Rana’s group differeniates themselves from other ML-factions through their emphasis on antifascism. Rana considers the Hindu
nationalist BJP as a fascist danger for India. PCC, CPI(ML) gives the advice to their followers to vote for parties like CPI(M) or
even the Indian National Congress in constituencies where no revolutionary communist candidate is available.
Ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha elections the party participated in the united front of revolutionary communists initiated by [the]
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Red Flag and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).
In the Bodo-dominated areas in Assam, the party works through a mass organization called United Reservation Movement
Council of Assam. PCC, CPI(ML) and URMCA are opponents of the Bodo nationalist movements. In the Lok Sabha elections in
2004 the URMCA candidate in Kokrajhar got 205,491 votes (21.25%). In the 1999 election the URMCA condidate had gotten
246,942 votes (27.75%) in the same constituency.
PCC, CPI(ML) publishes For a New Democracy as its central organ. The editor-in-chief is Vaskar Nandy.
The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group was formed in 1977, is active in Bihar, and
specifically in Bokaro and Dhanbad.
I don’t think that this group is engaged in any form of armed struggle.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Red Flag


CPI(ML) Red Flag was apparently formed from a group that split off from the CPI(ML) Central
Reorganization Committee in 1987 (or 1988?). Its origin and main area of influence was in Kerala state,
where it became the dominant ML organization. But it also expanded to Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The party’s head office was in Delhi. The All India Secretary of the
party was K. N. Ramachandran.
In 1994 the CPI(ML) Red Flag group said it advocated rebuilding the CPI(ML) "in a true Bolshevik style
and based on Mao’s mass line." ["Expose the Politics of Deception", Red Flag, Aug. 1994]. This reaffirmed
the basic line choice made earlier in the CPI(ML) CRC between the "military line" and the "mass line".
In 1997 the Party adopted a new constitution, programme, and international line. Their basic revolutionary
strategy, however, remained the same.
After the All-India Party conference in 2000, a group led by Rauf in Andhra Pradesh split off from Red Flag
and then merged into the CPI(ML) Naxalbari.
During the All-India conferences of the Party in 1997 and 2000, many additional issues were settled, and the
central tasks were clearly stated: Establish the political line of the party among the communist
revolutionaries of India; work to acquire political leadership of the people’s movement against globalization
and imperialism; build up a true Bolshevik style party; and build up a united front.

21
This, however led to some new issues coming to the fore in the Party. As a Party supporter explained to me
at the time:
The spontaneous people’s movements against globalisation have given a new life to revolutionary movements and a process of
regrouping among various ML groups has already been initiated. Keeping aloof from this process is not wise, some comrades
argue. But trying to join with oblivious, futureless, astray groups will result in liquidating our line, others say....
Another question is this: The National Platform of Mass Organisation (NPMO) is the biggest, broad based, national level anti-
globalisation united front in India. Many of the major trade unions and peasant organizations are members in it. It is mainly under
the social democratic, revisionist leadership. From 1992 onwards when the new economic policies were started to be
implemented, NPMO called for All India Strikes several times. On the one hand, keeping away from these struggles means
keeping away from the workers and peasants, but on the other hand joining with NPMO is compromising with class
collaborationist, revisionist, and reformist demands.
Those questions facing the Red Flag group were apparently resolved by shifting a bit to the right.
In 2003 a large section of Red Flag in Kerala, including the majority of the Kerala State Committee, broke
away, and began running a separate group under the same name. This split was led by the Kerala state
secretary, P. C. Unnichekan. This party is referred to as "CPI(ML) Red Flag (Unnichekan Group)".
The main mass organization of the party was the Trade Union Centre of India (TUCI). Regional mass
organizations included Yuvajanavedi, Kerala Vidyarthi Sanghatana [Keral Students Organization], and
Janakeeya Kala Sahitya Vedi [a cultural front] in Kerala, and Adivasi Democratic Front in Madhya Pradesh.
The CPI(ML) Red Flag published Red Star in English, Iykya Horatta in Kannada, Saghavu in Malayalam,
and had an active web site.
In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections the CPI(ML) Red Flag and the CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] formed an
electoral front together with the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries (West Bengal), Lal Nishan Party
(Leninvadi), Marxist Communist Party of India, Marxist-Leninist Committee, New Socialist Movement,
Gujarat, the CPI(ML) Provisional Central Committee, and Bhagat Singh Vichar Manch. In Kerala a Left
Front was formed for the elections together with BTR-EMS-AKG Janakeeya Samskarika Vedi of V. B.
Cheriyan.
In January 2005 a unity conference was held in Vijayawada which merged together the CPI(ML) Red Flag
with the CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] to form a new party using the old name CPI(ML).

Communist Party of India (M-L) [Sanyal Group]


This group was formed in June 2003 by a merger of the Communist Organization of India (M-L) and the
CPI(ML) Unity Initiative.
Officially this group called itself simply the CPI(ML), but I am appending an unofficial "[Sanyal Group]"
tag to differentiate it from other groups using that name. Kanu Sanyal was the leader of the COI-ML, and
was one of the leaders of the original Naxalbari revolt in 1967. Despite that, the COI-ML was more toward
the middle part of the spectrum of Maoist organizations in India. This merged group was similarly in the
middle part of the spectrum.
In November 2003 the Communist Party of Indian Union (M-L) also merged into this party.
The CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] has its main strength in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Among
the mass organizations it works with in Andhra Pradesh state are the Andhra Pradesh Federation of Trade
Unions, Raitu Coolie Sangham [State Farmers Union], Progressive Democratic Students Organization, Nava
Yuva Samithi [New Youth Association], Sthree Vimukti Sanghatana [Women’s Liberation Organization]. In
northern West Bengal, it works with the important mass organization, the All West Bengal Tea Garden
Labourers Union.
The party central organ is Class Struggle. It has a web site at: www.cpiml.in.
The CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] has also participated in some elections in Andhra Pradesh recently. The results
from the 2004 Lok Sabha elections were:
 Parvathipuram, Andhra Pradesh: Uooyaka Mutyalu - 13,895 votes (2.1%)
 Jhargram, West Bengal: Leba Chand Tudu - 9,422 votes (1.18%)
 Ranchi, Jharkhand: Anjani Kumar Pandey - 2,044 votes (0.29%)
 Darjeeling, West Bengal: Raju Bhatta - 11,112 votes (1.25%)
In January 2005 this group merged with the CPI(ML) Red Flag organization to form a new party under the
old name CPI(ML).
22
Communist Party of India (M-L) [Satyanarayan Singh Group]
This group was sometimes referred to as "CPI(ML) SNS" after Singh’s initials. S. N. Singh, Gurubux Singh,
and Rajkishor led a splitoff in Bihar from the original CPI(ML) in Sept. 1970. They opposed Charu
Mazumdar’s sectarianism and policy of individual annihilations (assassinations of individual class enemies).
In 1971 Asim Chatterjee and other CPI(ML) members in West Bengal broke with the Mazumdar central
committee and joined the S. N. Singh group, though Chatterjee soon left. In 1975 the Chandra Pulla Reddy
group in Andhra Pradesh merged with the SNS group, with Singh the top leader.
In 1977 the SNS Group merged with the CPI(ML) Unity Committee to form the CPI(ML) Provisional
Central Committee, with Singh still the top leader.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Second Central Committee


According to the Wikipedia, this was an illegal, underground faction of the CPI(ML) which was founded in
the late 1970s by Azijul Hague and Nishit Bhattacharya, two prominent communist leaders and intellectuals.
It seems that Mahadev Mukerjee was also a part of this group for a while. This was the pro-Lin Biao faction
of the CPI(ML).
The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group was formed in 1972 by Mahadeo Mukerjee
[sic], was active in Bihar, and specifically in Vaishali, Bhagalpur and Banka.
I believe this is the group that then expelled Mukherjee, who proceeded to form his own faction. For more of
the gory details, see CPI(ML) [Mahadev Mukherjee] faction.
The 2nd CC Group was active in Bihar, West Bengal, etc., and its mass fronts included Gansangram Komiti
[People’s Struggle Committee], Biplobi Krishak Front [Revolutionary Peasants Front], Chetna Sanskritik
Manch and Kisan Mazdoor Mukti Morcha [Peasants Workers Liberation Front].
It published Jandisha in Hindi, and Janedisha in Bengali through its fronts. On May 19, 2003 the CPI(ML)
Second Central Committee merged with the Maoist Communist Centre of India. It had to withdraw its pro-
Lin Biao stand for the merger to go through.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Shantipal


Also known as the CPI(ML) Santi Pal Group.
Formed around 1972 in northern West Bengal. The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group
is active in Bihar, and specifically in Sahebganj, Godda, Saharsa and Purnea.

Communist Party of India (M-L) Unity Initiative


The Hindustan Times claimed (May 9, 2002) that this group was formed in 1990, is active in Bihar, and
specifically in Ranchi, Gumla and Dhanbad. However, other sources say that it was formed in 2000 by a
merger of CPI(ML) New Initiative and the CPI(ML) Janashakti COC group.
In the summer of 2003 this group merged with the COI-ML to form a new group attempting to reclaim the
CPI(ML) name. (See: CPI(ML)[Sanyal Group].)

Communist Party of Indian Union (M-L)


This party arose from a small group that broke away from the Communist Organization of India (M-L) of
Kanu Sanyal and first joined up with the Marxist Communist Party of India at a conference in Chandigarh
on September 11, 1998. At the time of this merger the general secretary of the CPIU(ML) was U.
Krishanuppa from Karnataka. Later the CPIU group broke away from the MCPI and resumed existence as a
separate organization.
23
According to The Hindu (Sept. 21, 2004) The CPIU(ML) was led by the late communist revolutionary, K. P.
R. Gopalan.
However, in August 2003 discussions took place between Kanu Sanyal and Arvind Sinha from the CPI(ML)
[Sanyal Group] and Subodh Mitra and S. D. Bose about a possible merger between the CPIU(ML) and the
Sanyal Group. A conference of the CPIU(ML) in Samastipur on November 18, 2003 confirmed the merger
and the groups were united.

Communist Party of the United States of India


A splitoff from CPI(ML) Janashakti in 1997, during a period in which Janshakti was having much internal
turmoil. The CPUSI faction wanted to put more emphasis on caste issues rather than class issues. The
CPUSI was officially formed on May 17, 1997. Its founder was M. Veeranna and it is sometimes referred to
as the "Janashakti Veeranna" faction. Veeranna was later killed by the police.
The CPUSI is an illegal (underground) party based in Andhra Pradesh, which is engaged in some form of
armed struggle involving armed "dalam" squads. Sadhu Malyadri Jambhav is the Andhra Pradesh state
secretary of the CPUSI. In June 2001 a high-ranking leader of the CPUSI, Yerra Narasa Reddy, surrendered
to the police.

Communist Party Reorganization Centre of India (M-L)


The CPRCI(ML) was formed in August 1994 by the merger of four groups:
 The Punjab section of CPI(ML) Central Team
 Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India
 Communist Unity Centre of India
 Marxist-Leninist Organising Centre
The CPRCI(ML) advocates the "mass revolutionary line".
[More info to be added.]

Communist Revolutionary Centre


[No specific information available.]

Communist Revolutionary League of India


The CRLI is a small party in West Bengal, and is led by Asim (or Ashim) Chatterjee, a former student leader
of the original CPI(ML). Chatterjee broke with Charu Majumdar [or Mazumdar] in 1971 after the failure of
the armed struggle in the Debra-Gopiballavbur area in West Bengal, and due to the opposition of the
CPI(ML) leadership to the independence struggle of Bangladesh from Pakistan. (The CP of China, which
took the side of Pakistan during that war urged its followers in India to oppose independence for
Bangladesh. But such a stance was close to political suicide in India at the time.) Chatterjee initially created
the Bengal-Bihar-Orissa Border Regional Committee of the CPI(ML), and then later merged it into the
CPI(ML) [Satayanarayan Singh group]. Later Chatterjee formed the CRLI.
During 1995-2000 the CRLI was a member of the "Left Front" with the major revisionist party, the CPI
(Marxist). After breaking with CPI(M) the CRLI "has been in contact with" the Party for Democratic
Socialism, a split-off from the CPI(M) in 2001 led by Saifuddin Chaudhury. Chatterjee ran in the 2005 West
Bengal Legislative Assembly elections on the election symbol of the Trinamool Congress.

Communist Revolutionary Party

24
This was a party in Kerala led by K. P. R. Gopalan. It contested the 1970 elections without success. It was
however significant since this was the first group coming from the AICCCR tradition which tried to use
elections for revolutionary purposes.

Communist Unity Centre of India


Merged with three other groups in August 1994 to form the Communist Party Reorganization Centre of
India (M-L). [No other information available.]

Indian Communist Party


Was a small communist group led by U. Krishnappa from Karnataka. In May 1985 the ICP merged into the
Communist Organisation of India (M-L).

Jharkhand Liberation Front


This is apparently a bourgeois nationalist organization. According to the Hindustan Times (May 9, 2002), it
is "a recent offshoot of [the] Maoist Communist Centre" which is "gradually gaining notoriety in
Jharkhand."

Jharkhand Liberation Tigers


This may or may not be the same group as above. The bourgeois press claims the JLT is a split-off from the
CPI (Maoist) in Jharkhand, but appears to be fighting mostly against the that Party as well as against another
reactionary organization in the area, the Tritiya Prastuti Committee, in a sort of three-way turf war.
According to Internet reports, the JLT killed 3 members of the TPC in the Bano jungle of Simdega district,
Jharkhand, in Sept. 2007.

Kangleipak Communist Party


‘Kanglei’ is a local name for the area officially known as the state of Manipur, in northeast India. The
Kangleipak Communist Party is a small group which split off from the People’s Revolutionary Party of
Kangleipak (PREPAK) on April 14, 1980. Its leader is someone named Ibohanbi.
According to the "South Asian Terrorism Portal", a bourgeois web site:
Although it owes its ideological allegiances to communism, it does not emphasize ideology. Like People’s Revolutionary Party of
Kanglepak (PREPAK), its major demand has been the ouster of outsiders. It is not very active and has a strength of only 40
members.

Lal Jhanda Dal [Red Flag Party]


This was a minor Maoist group which was led by Swadesh Mitra around the time of the original CPI(ML).

Lal Nishan Party (Leninvadi) [Red Flag Party (Leninist)]


The LNP(L) was formed as a splinter group from the Lal Nishan Party in 1988. It criticized the LNP for
having gotten closer to the Indian National Congress and perestroika.
LNP(L) mainly concentrates on trade union activism. Its trade union organization is called Sarva Shramik
Sanghathan. The strongest base of SSS is in Pune. In general the LNP(L) does not contest elections. But it
did support the candidates of the CPI(ML) Red Flag in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

25
The party was led by Ashok Manohar until his death in 2003. It publishes the monthly Leninwadi Lalnishan
from Pune.

Maoist Communist Centre (India)


Formed from a merger of the Maoist Communist Centre and the Revolutionary Communist Centre, India
(Maoist) which was announced in a communiqué on January 15, 2003 [see RW, #1200, May 25, 2003].
MCC(I) was a member of the Coordinating Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia
[CCOMPOSA], and was affiliated with RIM. On Sept. 21, 2004, MCC(I) merged with CPI(ML) People’s
War to form the CPI (Maoist).
In 2003 the MCC(I) formed the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army, which has now been merged with the
People’s Guerrilla Army of the People’s War group, under the PLGA name.
Information about the MCC/MCC(I) from the Wikipedia:
Dakshin Desh
When the Communist Party of India (M-L) was founded in 1969, rallying various Maoist tendencies into a unified organization,
one group retained a separate identity and remained outside of CPI(ML). This group was nicknamed Dakshin Desh, after the
name of its publication. The group had begun publishing Dakshin Desh in August 1966. The group was highly critical of the
"revisionism" of the CPI(Marxist). Dakshin Desh promoted armed agrarian revolution along Maoist lines. The group was joined
by a sector of trade union activists.
Dakshin Desh is Hindi for "Southern Land" (implied in this naming was that India was the "Southern land" whreas China was the
corresponding "Northern land"). Amulaya Sen and Kanai Chatterjee were the leading figures of the Dakshin Desh group. In
difference to CPI(ML), whose policies of armed struggle bordered on individual terrorism, the Dakshin Desh group upheld that
mass mobilisations were requisites for engaging in armed struggle. The group began armed activities in the Jangal Mahal area,
Burdwan district, West Bengal, where Dalits ["Untouchables"] and Adivasis [tribal peoples] constituted large sections of the local
population. The territory was covered with deep forests, considered ideal for guerrilla warfare. The group formed political militia
squads, which moved around in the villages and conducted political activities to mobilise local peasants. The squads were often
made up [of] recruits from Calcutta. The squads looted grain storages, captured firearms and assassinated landlords and perceived
police informers. By 1973 it was estimated that the group had 37 squads in the area, with a combined membership of 106.
MCC
In 1975 the group took the name Maoist Communist Centre.
However, in spite of several years of political and armed activities, the group failed to make a breakthrough in the Jangal Mahal
area. In 1976 it decided to expand its activities to other parts of the country. Soon it began activities in eastern Bihar, and for this
purpose an apex Bengal-Bihar Special Area Committee was set up by the MCC.
Chatterjee died in 1982. Following his death, MCC was riddled by internal divisions. Chatterjee’s successor, Siveji, and his
deputy, Ramadhar Singh, disagreed over the policy of individual annihilations. Singh broke away and joined Kanu Sanyal’s group
instead. In the mid- and late 1980s, leadership of MCC was taken over by Sanjay Dusadh and Pramod Mishra. At this point, the
influence of the group had spread to the central parts of Bihar. The group now counted with 500 wholetime cadres and 10,000
members. Mass organizations of MCC included Krantikari Kisan Committee [Revolutionary Peasants Committee], Jana Suraksha
Sangarsh Manch [People’s Defence Struggle Bloc], Krantikarai Buddhijevi Sangh and Krantikari Chhatra League [Revolutionary
Students League]. The armed wing of the party was called Lal Raskha Dal [Red Defence Force].
In rural Bihar the party had become a major force to reckon with in some areas. In the pockets of its influence the party ran a
parallel juridicial system, with a system of people’s courts. The expansion of the party occurred as it became one of several caste-
based armed groups in the area. The party mobilized lower-cast Biharis, and frequently clashes with various militia groups
defending upper-caste interests. At times it also clashed with other Naxalite groups, such as when MCC militia killed 5
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation members in Jehanabad district on April 4, 1994. Militia activities of MCC
reached its peak by 1990.
In September 1993, MCC, Communist Party of India (M-L) People’s War and Communist Party of India (M-L) Party Unity
decided to coordinate their struggles. As a result, the All India People’s Resistance Forum was formed, with the participation of
cadres from the three parties. AIPRF held a mass rally, with around 100,000 participants, on March 21, 1994.
* * *
Excerpts about MCC before it merged with RCCI(M) from the RW (#1200, May 25, 2003):
The MCC had strongholds in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal in the northeast part of the country… [I]t became a participating
organization of RIM in 2002.
The MCC has united vast sections of the poor peasants of Bihar and Jharkhand. Bihar is a state in India where classical feudalism
still exists. The feudal landlords have their own armies under the protection of the Indian government, which they used to suppress
the peasants in their own interests. Under the reactionary Hindu Branashram system, people are divided into several castes. The
brutality of the upper-caste feudals reduces the masses to the level of slavery. Destroying the strongholds of these landlords bit by
bit, the MCC has been confiscating land from the feudals and distributing this land to the poor people in the areas where it has
sufficient power. On December 19, 2002, in the Singhabhumi district of western Jharkhand, the MCC led a military action against
26
reactionary armed police who had been carrying out brutal repression of the masses. Eighteen armed police were killed and 38
others wounded. All their weapons and ammunition were seized.
Similarly, the reactionary state of India has left the people of Jharkhand in very backward conditions. The MCC has turned
Jharkhand, the hilly area formerly part of Bihar and now a separate state, to Lalkhand (Lal means red) by uniting these tribal
(indigenous) people against feudals and Indian occupiers. The revolutionary armed struggle has been transforming the life of the
oppressed people, for example, by doing away with child marriage and other backward practices. A large percentage of the
indigenous people of Jharkhand are no longer mere downtrodden but are become free men and women."
[The RCCI (Maoist) had strongholds] in Punjab in the northwest.
Punjab, too, has been a hotbed of revolutionary struggle, from the time of General Diaras’s Jaliawala Bagh massacre of Punjabi
peasants fighting against British imperialism before India’s so-called independence up to today. Although it has a different
character to the most backward areas of India, these have been heroic struggles by the people against the reactionary system.
When a misguided movement broke out for an independent Sikh state (Khalistan), the RCCI stood firm on the orientation of New
Democratic Revolution in India to overthrow foreign imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism linked to both of the
former.
Excerpt about the pre-merger MCC from a Hindustan Times article (May 9, 2002):
Formed on October 20, 1969 with Kanhai Chatterjee and Amulya Sen as its founding
members, it is one of the most dreaded Naxalite outfits, mainly active in Bihar and
Jharkhand. Having entered Bihar in 1971, it has carried out a string of massacres,
particularly targeting upper castes, in the state and is constantly at war with
landlords’ private army Ranvir Sena besides another ultra-leftist outfit PWG,
contractors and traders.
Area of Operation: It is active in six Naxalism-hit districts of Bihar and 14 districts
in Jharkhand. These districts include Patna, Jehanabad, Gaya, Aurangabad, Nalanda,
Nawadah, Bhojpur and Rohtas in Bihar and Chhatra, Palamu, Garhwa, Hazaribagh, Dhanbad,
Bokaro, Palamu, Dhumka, Sahebganj, Gumla, Lohardagga, and Ranchi in Jharkhand.
Cadres: It has 300 professional revolutionaries, 60 armed squads and 30,000 members,
informed sources in Bihar say.
Frontal Organisations: Jan Pratirodh Sangharsh Manch, Krantikari Budhijivi Sangh,
Krantikari Sanskritik Sangh, Krantikari Chhatra League, Communist Yuva League, Naari
Mukti Sangh and Mazdoor Mukti Sangh are affiliated to MCC.
Its Central Committee is the main decision making body. MCC leadership in Bihar lies
mainly with backward castes, particularly Yadavs and Dalits. It has declared a
liberated zone in Bihar, which includes Aurangabad district. Its Bihar-Bengal Special
Area Committee, Preparatory Committee for Revolutionary Peasant Struggles and
Revolutionary Peasant Councils constantly monitor, review and enhance the MCC
activities in the region.
Hit List: The MCC hit list includes Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi.
On September 21, 2004 the MCC(I) merged with the CPI(ML) People’s War group to form the Communist
Party of India (Maoist). The CPI(Maoist) is now by far the most important organization engaged in guerrilla
warfare in India.

Marxist Communist Party of India


MCPI was a splinter group from the huge revisionist CPI (Marxist) party. As such, its Maoist credentials are
weak, but it explored (and then rejected) a possible merger with the centrist (or middle-right) Maoist groups
who formed the new CPI(ML) in January 2005. It did, however, participate in an electoral front with those
forces in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
The General Secretary was Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, who was the former general secretary of the All India
Kisan Sabha.
MCPI was active in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and elsewhere. Its principal
mass organizations were the All India Centre for Trade Unions (AICTU), the All India Federation of
Democratic Youth (AIFDY), and the All India Federation of Democratic Women (AIFDW). MCPI seems to
have put a lot of emphasis into waging electoral campaigns.
MCPI had a publication called People’s Democracy.

Marxist Communist Party of India (United)


Formed from a merger of the Maxist Communist Party of India (see above) with other groups.
27
Marxist-Leninist Committee
Usually referred to as the ML Committee. A small organization led by K. Venkateswar Rao. Activities are
limited to a few districts (including Guntur) in the eastern part of Andhra Pradesh. Takes a centrist or
middle-right stance in the Indian MLM spectrum. Participated in a round of unity talks with CPI(ML) Red
Flag and CPI(ML) [Sanyal Group] in 2004, but the outcome is unclear to me so far. It did, however,
participate in an electoral front with these groups in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

Marxist-Leninist Organising Centre


Merged with three other groups in August 1994 to form the Communist Party Reorganization Centre of
India (M-L).

National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issak/Muivah)


Nagaland is a state in northeast India, in the Naga Hills area north of Manipur. The NSCN(I/M) is a
revolutionary nationalist organization formed in 1980. I am told that the revolutionary nationalist movement
in this region originally received help and support from Mao’s China, but that now the NSCN(I/M) is
accused of receiving support from the World Christian Council!
Web site: http://www.nscnonline.org

People’s Liberation Army


This is apparently the armed force of the Revolutionary People’s Front, an alliance of several revolutionary
nationalist organizations. See RPF Manipur and its web page at:
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/4568

People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak


‘Kanglei’ is a local name for the area encompassed by the northeastern state of Manipur. PREPAK was
formed on Oct. 9, 1977 under the leadership of R. K. Tulachandra (who was later killed by government
forces). It claims to be the "most genuine revolutionary group" in Manipur. According to right-wing sources,
its primary demand seems to be the ouster of all outsiders from the region.
At present Achamba is the top leader of PREPAK. According to a bourgeois web site, the "South Asian
Terrorism Portal", it has about 200 fighters, and has been trained by NSCN(IM). The Manipur People’s
Liberation Front (MPLF) is composed of PREPAK, the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and the
People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
In 1980 a small group split off to form the Kangleipak Communist Party.

Punjab Communist Revolutionary Center


This is probably just an alternative name for the PCCCR below.

Punjab Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries


[Later called the Punjab Communist Revolutionary Committee]
Originally the Bhatinda District Committee of the AICCCR.

28
Led by Harbhajan Sohi. When the AICCCR decided to create the original CPI(ML) in 1969 several state
units of the AICCCR refused to go along. One of these was the PCCCR which existed as an independent,
centrist MLM organization until it merged with the UCCRI(ML) in June 1976.

Revolutionary Communist Centre, India (Marxist-Leninist)


In 1979 the Punjab State Committee of the UCCRI(ML) formed a parallel organization by that same name.
During the early 1980s Shamsher Singh Sheri (alias Karam Singh) became the leader of the minority within
that parallel organization. In 1982 he and his followers broke away from that UCCRI(ML) group, and in
November 1983 they formed the Revolutionary Communist Centre of India (Marxist-Leninist), with Sheri as
the Secretary.
The RCCI(ML) had an organizational conference in 1992. In 1995 it split in two, with Sheri’s faction
renaming their group as the RCCI(Maoist), and the other faction becoming the RCCI(Marxist-Leninist-
Maoist).

Revolutionary Communist Centre, India (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist)


Formed in 1995 when the RCCI(ML) split in two. As of 2002, both were listed as members of
CCOMPOSA.

Revolutionary Communist Centre, India (Maoist)


Centered in Punjab, and led by Shamsher Singh Sheri (alias Karam Singh). This was a 1995 split off from
the RCCI(ML).
Sheri was the original Secretary of the group, and was reelected at RCCI(M) conferences in 1996 and 2002.
Sheri also took part in setting up the CCOMPOSA organization of south Asian revolutionary parties.
In January 2003 the RCCI(M) merged with the Maoist Communist Centre, which then became the Maoist
Communist Centre (India). (See that entry for more information on the merger.)
Sheri became a Central Committee member of the MCC(I), and after the merger of MCC(I) with the
CPI(ML) People’s War to form the CPI (Maoist) in 2004, Sheri became a member of its provisional Central
Committee. Sheri died on October 30, [2003?] after suffering from cerebral malaria and jaundice.

Revolutionary Communist Council of India


This was a group in Calcutta which existed sometime around the early 1970s. [Source: Prakash Singh, The
Naxalite Movement in India, (New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 1999), p. 53.]

Revolutionary Communist Party (India)


Based in Punjab, and led by Takra. This is one of the 5 groups which merged together in 1988 to form the
Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India, which itself later merged with 3 other groups to form the
CPRCI(ML) in August 1994.
This organization should not be confused with the Revolutionary Communist Party of India.

Revolutionary Communist Unity Centre (Marxist-Leninist)


Was formed by Asit Sen in 1970, after he left the AICCCR in 1969. Sen criticized the CPI(ML) for not
organizing mass movements.
The "Northern Zonal Committee" of this organization was one of the four groups that merged in 1975 to
form the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (M-L).
29
Revolutionary People’s Front Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeast India between Assam and Myanmar [Burma]. The RPFM is a left nationalist
organization possibly influenced by Maoist ideas but which is not part of the communist tradition. It was
formed in 1979. The People’s Liberation Army is its armed force.
On Oct. 21-22, 2008, representatives of the RPFM and the CPI (Maoist) held a meeting in which they
agreed to mutually support each other’s struggles. The Secretary General of the RPFM, S. Gunen, signed
this agreement, as did Alok, a Political Bureau member of the CPI (Maoist).
Web site: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/4568

Revolutionary Socialist Party of India (M-L)


According to the Wikipedia, this group has a Maoist orientation, and is most probably a breakaway group
from the Revolutionary Socialist Party. It was formed in 1969, and apparently is based mainly in Uttar
Pradesh.
This group seems to have an electoral approach. It ran two condidates in the 1971 general election in Uttar
Pradesh, and one in Bihar. In the 2005 Jharkhand state legislative election it ran 3 candidates.

Tamil Nadu Marxist-Leninist Party[No specific information available.]


Tritiya Prastuti Committee ["Third Peparatory Committee"]
The bourgeois press says this is a breakaway sect from the CPI (Maoist), formed in 2002, and operating in
Jharkhand, Bihar and possibly elsewhere. However, it appears to actually be a reactionary organization, now
probably sponsored by the government. In 2007 the TPC declared that its "main enemy is not the police
machinery, but the CPI-Maoist".
Internet reports on the Maoist Resistance site said that on Sept. 14, 2007 the TPC operating in the Barwadih
village of Latehar district in Jharkhand, abducted 4 supporters of the CPI (Maoist) and killed them with
sharp-edged weapons. In a second incident, 3 members of the TPC were killed by the Jharkhand Liberation
Tigers (JLT), a similar reactionary group, engaged in a three-way turf war with the TPC and the Maoists.
The Indian newspaper, The Hindu reported in its June 19, 2008 issue that one member of the TPC was shot
dead by CPI (Maoist) members in Bihar’s Gaya district.

United Liberation Front of Assam


Assam is a state in northeast India on the edge of the Himalayas. ULFA is a left nationalist organization
which may be influenced by Mao, but is not part of any communist tradition. It was formed by Paresh Barua
and his associates on April 7, 1979, with a stated aim of establishing a "sovereign socialist Assam" through
armed struggle.
Baruah is the commander-in-chief of the military wing (known as the Sanjukta Mukti Fouj, or SMF), and
the ULFA chairman is Arabinda Rajkhowa. The ULFA appears to be a quite active organization which is
said to have three full-fledged battalions. According to the bourgeois web site, the "South Asian Terrorist
Portal", ULFA operates out of safe havens in Bhutan and Bangladesh.
Web site: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/7434

Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (M-L)


Developed primarily from an earlier group, the Andhra Pradesh Revolutionary Communist Committee,
which was formed circa 1969 and led by T. Nagi Reddy. (This group was not allowed to participate in the
AICCCR because of its disagreement on the issue of loyalty to the Communist Party of China, and because

30
of its opposition to immediate armed struggle and to the boycott of all elections.) [Some of the information
below is taken from the Wikipedia.]
The UCCRI(ML) itself was formed in April 1975 through the merger of the following organizations:
 APCCCR/APRCC
 Northern Zonal Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Unity Centre (ML)
 West Bengal Communist Unity Centre
 WBCCR
The unity conference adopted resolutions on martyrs, programme, path, methods of work, constitution and a
statement on unification. Its ambition was to eventually unite all the communist revolutionary forces in
India. It elected a Central Committee with Devullapali Venkatewra Rao ("DV") as its Secretary, and
established the Spark as its central organ.
Shortly after the formation of the UCCRI(ML) Indira Gandhi proclaimed an Emergency. As part of this the
UCCRI(ML) and proscribed and forced underground.
The Kerala Communist Unity Centre decided to merge with the UCCRI(ML) in June 1975, but that group
suffered internal splits before the merger could take place and so it was called off.
The UCCRI(ML) was originally based in Andhra Pradesh, and led by T. Nagi Reddy (until his death) and D.
V. Rao. Nagi Reddy was actually the most important leader of the party, and his death in July 1976 was a
severe setback for the UCCRI(ML). In August 1976 the organization had a split. A conflict emerged in the
CC and DV was removed from the post of Secretary. DV accused three other CC members (led by a CC
member from the NZC) of having formed a "rival centre", and suspended them unilaterally. In the split the
Northern Zone Committee (Rajasthan) and Bengal Committee broke away, along with the "rival centre". The
break-away group later developed a pro-Albanian line.
DV returned to Andhra Pradesh and rallied the Andhra organization around him. He pushed through a
merger of the Punjab Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries into UCCRI(ML) in June
1976. He resurrected a provisional Central Committee including himself, the PCRC secretary (Harbhajan
Sohi) and two leaders from Andhra Pradesh (Madhu and Anand) until a regular party conference could be
held.
The UCCRI(ML) advocated the "mass revolutionary line".
Branches were started in Orissa and Kerala. In 1978 a group from the Debra area of Midnapore, West
Bengal, joined UCCRI(ML). The convenor of the erstwhile Maharashtra State Committee of Communist
Revolutionaries (which had left the AICCCR after the expulsion of APCCCR) joined the UCCRI(ML)
which led to the formation of a unit in Maharashtra.
When the UCCRI(ML) under D. V. Rao accepted the "Three Worlds" theory and supported the Deng regime
in China, a second split occurred. One section of the organization under the leadership of Harbhajan Sohi
split off in 1979. (See next entry below.) Yet another section of the group, led by Anand, split off for much
the same reasons later on (1988). (Those two factions, together with 3 other groups, went on to form the
Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India in 1988, and the CCRI itself was one of the groups that
merged to form the CPRCI(ML) in August 1994.)
In the period before the 1980 elections, the UCCRI(ML) reviewed their stand towards participation. The
UCCRI(ML) always saw elections as a tactical issue. Initially the party had adopted the policy of non-
participation. But in 1980 they came out with an appeal to "defeat pro-superpower reactionary forces in
elections". (See the Wikipedia entry for more on this.) In the actual electoral campaign the new policy was
not consistent. In Andhra Pradesh the party promoted non-participation, in reality a boycott, whereas the
party supported certain condidates in West Bengal and Orissa.
In the aftermath of the elections, a split occurred with DV leaving the party with a group of followers in
Andhra Pradesh. DV set up his own separate UCCRI(ML). After DV’s departure, Anand became the new
CC Secretary of hte remaining UCCRI(ML).
In 1988 Anand broke away from the UCCRI(ML) after a long period of dissent within the organization. The
rift between Anand and others surged during the preparations for holding a party conference. Anand was
able to win over the Maharashtra unit. He also opened relations with Sohi’s UCCRI(ML). After the split, the
Anand faction and the Sohi faction, along with three other groups, created the Centre of Communist
Revolutionaries of India that same year.

31
The remaining UCCRI(ML) faction, led by Viswam and Madhu, merged into the CPI(ML) Janashakti in
1992. Madhu signed the merger agreement on behalf of UCCRI(ML).

Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (M-L) [D.V.


Rao]
This split off from the UCCRI(ML) was formed by D. V. Rao after the 1980 general elections. Rao had been
the Central Committee Secretary of the UCCRI(ML). However, differences emerged on issues such as how
to relate to developments in China after the death of Mao Zedong. Rao maintained that China under Deng
Xiaoping remained a socialist state.
Apparently this party still exists, under the leadership of Arika Gumpaswamy.

Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (M-L)


[Harbhajan Sohi]
A splinter group of the UCCRI(ML) from 1979 to 1988. According to the Wikipedia (2006):
Since July 1977 the UCCRI(ML) Central Committee Member from Punjab, Harbhajan Sohi, had started to express criticism
towards the Three Worlds Theory of the Communist Party of China. Gradually he got closer to the positions of the Albanian Party
of Labour. In January 1979 the Punjab State Committee of the UCCRI(ML) submitted a document to the Central Committee on
the issue. The majority of the CC responded by producing a document titled "In Support of Differentiation of Three Worlds
Theory" in April the same year. On September 20 the split was a fact, and the Punjab State Committee formed a parallel
UCCRI(ML).
In November 1986 the group took the initiative to form the Front Against Repression and Communalism together with the
Communist Party of India (ML) Central Team, to combat Khalistani terrorism and state repression.
The UCCRI(ML) of Harbhajan Sohi was integral in the formation of the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India in 1988.

West Bengal Communist Unity Centre


This is one of the 4 groups that merged in 1975 to form the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of
India (M-L). [No other information available.]

Workers Revolutionary Party (India)


This was a group in Kerala around 1970, and had branches in Trivandrum, Ernakulam and Alappuzha. It was
led by A. Achuthan. [Source: Prakash Singh, The Naxalite Movement in India, (New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 1999), p. 64.]

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