Bolshevik Party of India
Bolshevik Party of India | |
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Founder | N. Dutta Mazumder |
Founded | 1939 |
Headquarters | Nagpur |
Ideology | Communism Marxism–Leninism[1] |
National affiliation | Left Front |
The Bolshevik Party of India (abbreviated BPI) is an Indian political party in India. The party was founded in 1939.[2] The party had a certain role in the trade union movement in West Bengal and was briefly represented in the state government in 1969. In later years the party has played a negligible role in Indian politics.
Background
BPI traces its roots to the Bengal Labour Party, founded in 1933 and led by Niharendu Dutt Mazumdar.[2][3] Prominent leaders of the Bengal Labour Party included Sisir Roy, Sudha Roy, Bishwanath Dubey, Kamal Sarkar, Nandalal Bose and Promode Sen.[4]
As of 1930s the Bengal Labour Party led various trade unions, such as
- Calcutta Port and Dock Workers Union
- Various unions of Jute mill workers in Shyamnagar, Gouripore, etc.
- All Bengal Iron and Steel Workers Union, Entally
- Metal and Engineering Workers Union, Garden Reach
- All Bengal Chemical Workers Union
- East India Railway Workers' Union, Lilluah
- Saxby and Farmer Company Workers' Union
- Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Workers' Union
- Hukumchand Iron and Steel Workers, Ballyganj
- Bird and Company Workers Union
- Water Transport Workers Union
- Scavengers Union[4]
The leaders of the Bengal Labour Party joined the
Second World War
When the
However, N. Dutta Mazumdar did not agree with this position and supported the
In early 1944 the BPI politburo dissolved the Bengal Committee of the party and formed a 4-member secretariat for the province consisting of Barada Mukutmoni, Mani Bishnu Chaudhuri, Amar Naskar and Dinanath Gupta.[9]
Partition and independence
Around the time of Indian independence Sisir Roy was the general secretary of BPI.[3][1] BPI echoed other Indian left-wing formations in labelling the Partition of India as treason.[2] The party called for a United States of India, with linguistic states and tribal autonomy.[1] It advocated breaking with the Commonwealth and instead orient India toward trade pacts with the Soviet Union, China and the people's democracies.[1] The headquarter of the party was based in Ballygunj, Calcutta.[1]
BPI joined
In the 1950s the Anandi Mukherji-led faction of the Forward Communist Party merged into BPI, bringing into BPI the Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh branches of the Forward Communist Party.[14][3] In June 1954 the Workers and Peasants League of Nepal Bhattacharya merged with the party.[3]
By the mid-1950s BPI claimed to have around 3,000 members.
The trade unions led by BPI joined the United Trade Union Congress.[15] Sisir Roy became the general secretary of UTUC.[15]
In alliances
The party joined the
In 1957 a split occurred between Sisir Roy, the party general secretary, and Bishwanath Dubey, a prominent trade union leader of the party.[3] Roy accused Dubey of acting in cahoots with US imperialist interests.[3] The split broke the Dock Mazdoor Union into two, and also provoked a split in UTUC.[18] Dubey and his followers constituted a faction of their own, which in 1959 joined the Tagore faction of the Revolutionary Communist Party of India.[3] After Dubey was forced to leave the party, the BPI trade union work was significantly weakened.[3] In 1963 Dubey founded a new, rival West Bengal Dock Mazdoor Union.[18]
The party was part of the CPI-led
Bhattacharya era
Sisir Roy died in 1960.[15] Nepal Bhattacharya became the new general secretary of BPI.[3] Sudha Roy replaced Sisir Roy as UTUC general secretary.[15] At the 1965 party conference Sudha Roy called for a merger between BPI and CPI.[3] The conference rejected a merger and Sudha Roy and her followers left BPI to join CPI.[3]
United Front
Ahead of the
In March 1969 Barada Mukutmoni was named Minister of Tourism in the second United Front government of West Bengal.[24][3]
Split
A split occurred in BPI in the wake of Mukutmoni joining the state government.
After the fall of the United Front cabinet and ahead of the 1971 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election the BPI (Nepal Bhattacharya group) joined the CPI(M)-led United Left Front whilst the BPI (Barada Mukutmoni) joined the CPI-led United Left Democratic Front.[26][27] When CPI later withdrew from front politics in West Bengal, the Mukutmoni faction aligned with the Janata Party.[28] The Mukutmoni faction later merged into the All India Communist Party.[28]
Current status
For many years, BPI went into decay and was isolated from other left forces.[29]
The party contested the 1991 elections as a partner of the
In later years there were efforts to revive the party.[29] As of 2015 present BPI is headquartered in Nagpur.[31] As of 2011 the party claimed having state committees in Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.[32] As of 2014 Shashikant Waikar was the general secretary of the party and Chitta Nath the secretary of its West Bengal Committee.[29] As of 2014 the party had joined the West Bengal Left Front.[29][33][34]
References
- ^ a b c d e The Times of India Directory & Yearbook, Including Who's who. Times of India Press. 1954. p. 1119.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-230-28804-1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w S. N. Sadasivan (1977). Party and democracy in India. Tata McGraw-Hill. pp. 90–92.
- ^ a b Socialist Perspective. Vol. 17. Council for Political Studies. 1989. p. 276.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4008-7841-3.
- ISBN 978-0-19-563868-4.
- ^ ISBN 9788170230052.
- ^ Lalan Prasad Sinha (1965). The left-wing in India, 1919–47. New Publishers. p. 472.
- ISBN 978-0-19-563868-4.
- ^ Frontline. End of an era
- ^ a b Election Commission of India. Statistical Report on General Elections, 1951 to the First Lok Sabha Volume I (National and State Abstracts & Detailed Results) Archived 8 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Statistical Report on General Election, 1951 : To the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ Election Commission of India. Statistical Report on General Election, 1951 : To the Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh
- ^ Bose, K., Forward Bloc, Madras: Tamil Nadu Academy of Political Science, 1988.
- ^ a b c d Harold A. Crouch (1966). Trade Unions and Politics in India. Manaktalas. p. 233.
- Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 216.
- ^ Election Commission of India. Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 To the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal
- ^ a b Michael v. d Bogaert (1967). Dock Worker Unions in Calcutta and Bombay: A Case Study of Trade Union Growth in a Developing Economy. Industrial Relations Research Institute, University of Wisconsin. p. 101.
- Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 220.
- ^ Election Commission of India. Statistical Report on General Election, 1962 to the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal
- Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 227-229.
- ^ Election Commission of India. Statistical Report on General Election, 1967 To the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal
- ISBN 978-93-5150-109-1.
- ISBN 9788176260282.
- ^ a b Institute of Political and Social Studies (1969). Institute of Political and Social Studies Bulletin. pp. 11, 26.
- ^ Political Science Review. Vol. 18–19. Department of Political Science, University of Rajasthan. 1979. p. 31.
- ISBN 978-81-8064-135-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-85195-26-1.
- ^ a b c d Ganashakti. তদন্ত প্রভাবিত করতেই অনুব্রতের প্রশংসা মমতার,মন্তব্য বিমান বসুর
- ^ Shiv Lal (1992). Election Archives and International Politics (191–196 ed.). Shiv Lal. p. 194.
- ^ Election Commission of India. No.56/2015/PPS-II
- ^ Election Commission of India. Bolshevik Party of India
- ^ Times of India. 16 Left parties to observe December 6 as communal harmony day in Bengal
- ^ Ganashakti. বামফ্রন্টে যোগ দিল বলশেভিক পার্টি