The Communist Party of India (Marxist), Kerala or CPI(M) Kerala is the Kerala state wing of CPI(M). It is responsible for organizing and coordinating the party's activities and campaigns within the state, as well as selecting candidates for local, state, and national elections. Currently, it is the opposition party in the Kerala Legislative Assembly and has significant representation of the state in the Rajya Sabha. The CPI(M) currently leads the LDF alliance.
History Background
In July 1937, a clandestine meeting was held at Calicut. Five persons were present at the meeting, P. Krishna Pillai, K. Damodaran, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, N. C. Sekhar and S.V. Ghate. The first four were members of the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) in Kerala. In that meeting, they founded the first cell of the CPI in Kerala. A wider conference could be conducted at Parappram, Pinarayi in December 1939 where the entire Kerala unit of the Congress Socialist Party got converted into a unit of the CPI. Thus, the proper functioning of the Communist Party of India in Kerala as a mass party started on 31 December 1939 with the Pinarayi Conference.
In 1946, Punnapra-Vayalar uprising was a mass communist movement against C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, the Diwan (Head) of Travancore in Alappuzha. The revolt was due to over 21,000 peasants died in Cherthala taluk alone during the Famine (1939–43). This led to a war between the Travancore police and people. Over 400 people were killed. After the killings, many people around the areas turned into communists.
In 1957 Kerala Assembly election the Communist Party of India (CPI) was elected to rule the state government of Kerala under E. M. S. Namboodiripad only to have the government dismissed and President's Rule declared in 1959 following the Vimochana Samaram. In 1964, in conjunction with the widening rift between China and the Soviet Union, a large leftist faction of the CPI leadership, based predominantly in Kerala and West Bengal, split from the party to form the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI (M). In Kerala, the CPI (M) in coalition with other parties wrested control from the Congress and its allies (frequently including the CPI) in 1967, in 1980, and in 1987. Support for the CPI (M) in Kerala in general elections has ranged from 19 percent to 26 percent, but the party has never won more than nine of Kerala's twenty seats in Parliament.
Formation of CPI(M) in Kerala
After the CPI split in 1964, prominent communist leaders in Kerala E.M.S. Namboodiripad, A. K. Gopalan and K. R. Gouri Amma stood with the Communist Party of India (Marxist). One year after the split, in the 1965 elections CPI(M) which was a splinter faction of CPI, emerged as the largest party in the assembly with 40 seats, while CPI could win only 3 seats. However no single party could form a ministry commanding majority and hence this election is considered abortive. President's rule was invoked for the fourth time.
In the 1967 Kerala assembly election both communist parties - CPI (M) and CPI - along with smaller parties including SSP and Muslim League contested this election as a United Front. A total of seven parties contested in the front, and the front was known as Saptakakshi Munnani. The CPI(M) led front won the election with a record 113 seats out of 133 seats and formed the government under E.M.S. Namboodiripad. After 2 years of the government, due to continuous problems between CPI and CPI(M) many ministers from the smaller parties resigned eventually, and many parties subsequently left the front owing to the loss of majority the Second Namboodiripad ministry was dissolved in 1969.
Emergency rule in Kerala
During the emergency rule, when communists in Kerala were organising the political activities from different hide-outs, many CPI(M) members and leaders including current chief minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan was imprisoned for one and a half years. He was arrested and tortured by police. After his release, Pinarayi Vijayan reached the Kerala Legislative Assembly and made an impassionate speech against senior Congress leader K. Karunakaran holding up the blood-stained shirt he wore when in police custody, causing serious embarrassment to the then C. Achutha Menon government. Hundreds of Communists, whether from the CPI(M), other Marxist parties, or the Naxalites, were arrested during the Emergency. Some were tortured or, as in the case of the Kerala student P. Rajan, killed.
Formation of Left Democratic Front alliance
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, two main pre-poll political alliances were formed: the Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India and the United Democratic Front (UDF), led by the Indian National Congress.
Nayanar Era (1980 - 2001)
Since the formation of the alliance in 1980, E. K. Nayanar has led the party and alliance for two decades and has also became the longest-served Chief Minister of Kerala. The CPI(M) led alliance has won every alternate election in 1980 election, 1987 election and 1996 election since the formation led by Nayanar. In this period Kerala saw several progressive reforms, especially in the Land Reforms and Labour Welfare sectors. The Kerala Coir workers Welfare Fund Act, 1987, The Kerala Khadi Workers’ Welfare Fund Act, 1989, The Kerala Abkari Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1989, The Kerala Construction workers’ Welfare Fund Act, 1989 and the Kerala Ration Dealer's Welfare Fund Act 1998.
Timeline 1925 - Workers and Peasants Party formed which later helped to form Communist Party of India.Ralhan, O.P. (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Political Parties - India - Pakistan - Bangladesh - National -Regional - Local. Vol. 14. Communist Party of India. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 2002. p. 210 1925 - Communist Party of India founded in Kanpur on 26 December 1925. 1931 - Communist League formed for propaganda for organising a trade union in Trivandrum, Kerala, in 1931 1934 - Formation of Congress Socialist Party (CSP) in Kerala, as part of the Popular Front strategy of the ComIntern.Roy, Samaren. M.N. Roy: A Political Biography. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 1998. p. 113, 115 1935 - All India member of Communist Party of India, P. Sundarayya met members of CSP Kerala unit leaders P. Krishna Pillai and E.M.S. Namboodiripad in Madras. 1937 - A meeting was held in Calicut between P. Krishna Pillai, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, A. K. Gopalan, K. Damodaran, N. C. Sekhar and S.V. Ghate whom were members of Congress Socialist Party (CSP) 1939-40 - Split in Congress. Communist Party of India walked away with the entire Kerala Congress unit. 1940 - Formation of Communist Party of India in Kerala 1946 - Punnapra-Vayalar Revolt, was a mass communist movement against C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, the Diwan (Head) of Travancore 1947 - India gains independence from British Raj. 1952 - In the 1952 Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly election, Communist Party of India was banned to contest election. 1956 - Kerala state was formed comprising South Canara (Kasaragod region), Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore. 1957 - First Kerala Legislative assembly election was held in Kerala, the election led to the formation of first democratically elected communist government in India and first state to elect a Non-Congress party in the country. E.M.S. Namboodiripad sworn in as first chief minister of Kerala. 1959 - Dismissal of government following Liberation Struggle. 1963 - Split in leadership of Communist Party of India (CPI). 1964 - Formation of Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). 1967 - CPI(M) led United Front Alliance won the Forth Kerala Legislative assembly election with over 113 of 133 seats. The alliance included CPI and Muslim League. 1980 - Formation of CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front (LDF) alliance.
Recent State Conferences and major events
1985 Ernakulam conference - alternative document and ouster of M. V. Raghavan 1988 Alappuzha conference - V. S. Achuthanandan re-elected as state secretary 1991 Kozhikode conference - V. S. Achuthanandan loses to E. K. Nayanar by 2 votes 1995 Kollam conference - downslide to VS faction 1998 Palakkad conference - comeback of VS and ouster of CITU lobby including M. M. Lawrence, V. B. Cheriyan, K. N. Raveendranath, Appukkutan Vallikunnu 2002 Kannur conference - start of the VS vs PV feud that shall continue until VS's retirement from active politics after 2015 2005 Malappuram conference 2008 Kottayam conference - paramountcy of PV faction 2012 Thiruvananthapuram conference 2015 Alappuzha conference - VS walks out
Structure and composition
List of state secretaries of CPI(M) Kerala Portrait Secretary Term Total Years as secretary1 C. H. Kanaran(1909–1972)1964–19728 Years2 E. K. Nayanar(1919–2004)1972–19808 Years3 V. S. Achuthanandan(1923–2025)1980–199212 Years4 E. K. Nayanar(1919–2004)1992–19964 Years5 Chadayan Govindan(1929–1998)1996-19982 Years6 Pinarayi Vijayan(1945–)25 September 1998 – 23 February 201517 Years7 Kodiyeri Balakrishnan(1953–2022)23 February 2015 – 28 August 20227 Years8 M. V. Govindan(1953–)31 August 2022–present Incumbent
List of Polit Bureau members from CPI(M) Kerala
Portrait Name Period1E. M. S. Namboodiripad1964 - 19982A. K. Gopalan1964 - 19773E. Balanandan1978 - 20054V. S. Achuthanandan1986 - 20095E. K. Nayanar1992 - 20046S. Ramachandran Pillai1992 - 20227Pinarayi Vijayan1998–present8Kodiyeri Balakrishnan2008 - 20229M. A. Baby2012–present10M. V. Govindan2022–present11A. Vijayaraghavan2022–present
Current State Secretariat Leaders
Source:
Leader's name Born (Age)1 Pinarayi Vijayan 2 E. P. Jayarajan 3 P. Jayarajan 4 M. V. Govindan 5 V. N. Vasavan 6 V. Sivankutty 7 K. K. Shailaja 8 M. V. Jayarajan 9 K. N. Balagopal 10 Saji Cherian 11 P. Rajeeve12 M.B. Rajesh 13 P. K. Biju 14 P. A. Mohammed Riyas 15C. N. Mohanan16 M. Swaraj
Principal mass organisations No. Organisation Name Association for President1 Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI)Youth V. Vaseef2 Students' Federation of India (SFI) Students M Shivaprasad3 Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Trade union Elamaram Kareem4 All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) Women P. K. Sreemathy5 Balasangham Children Pravisha Pramod6 Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) Bank C. J. Nandakumar7Adivasi Kshema Samithi (AKS) TribalK. C. Kunhiraman8All India Agricultural Workers UnionAgricultural WorkersA. Vijayaraghavan9All India Kisan SabhaFarmersValsan Panoli10Coffee Farmers’ Federation of IndiaCoffee FarmersM. M. Mani11Purogama Kalasahitya SanghamWriters and ArtistsShaji N. Karun12Kerala NGO Union (NGOU)Non Gazetted Officers M. V. Sashidharan12Kerala Gazetted Officers' Association (KGOA)Gazetted Officers Dr. M. A. Nazer13Association of Kerala Govt. College Teachers (AKGCT) Govt. College Teachers Prof. (Dr.) Manoj N.14All Kerala Private College Teachers' Association (AKPCT)Private College Teachers' AssociationNisanth A15Kerala School Teachers Association (KSTA)School Teachers
District Secretaries +No.DistrictDistrict Secretary1ThiruvananthapuramV. Joy2KollamS.Sudevan3Alappuzha R. Naser 4PathanamthittaRaju Abraham 5KottayamA. V. Rasal 6IdukkiC.V. Varghese 7ErnakulamS. Satheesh 8ThrissurM. M. Varghese 9PalakkadE.N. Suresh Babu 10MalappuramV.P. Anil11KozhikodeM. Mehabub12Wayanad Rafeeq13KannurM. V. Jayarajan14KasaragodM. Rajagopalan
List of Chief Ministers from CPI(M)
No. Portrait NameMinistry (Year) Length of term Longest continuous term Total years of premiership 1 2 years, 240 days 4 years 357 days 2 5 years, 27 days 11 years, 10 days 3 4 years, 364 days 4 years, 364 days 4
Kerala Assembly election results