To Com. Stalin

The “Pre-election Manifesto of the Communist Party of India” should be published fully in the forthcoming issue of the newspaper “For Lasting Peace, For People’s Democracy” which will be out in print on 31 August of this year and later in Pravda with reference to “For Lasting Peace, For People’s Democracy”.

The draft of the Decree of the CC AUCP(b) is attached.
Request you to go through it.

Chairman, Foreign Policy Committee CC AUCP(b)
V. Grigorian

27 August 1951

Towards the beginning of this year, the differences within the Communist Party of India took a turn for the worse. Various groups, though not formalized organizationally, arose in the party. These did not obey the Central Committee, independently established ties with grassroots party organizations and pursued their own political line. The editorial board of the central organ of the party refused to publish materials of the Central Committee. The work of the communist party everywhere has fallen into decay and the number of party members was reduced from 90,000 in 1948 to 20,000 by the beginning of 1951 and the influence of the party in the mass organizations declined sharply.

On April 25, 1951, the draft programme of the Communist Party of India was published in English. On 29 April it was printed in the newspaper “Svadhinta” in the Bengali language, 14 May in the newspaper “Naya Sabera” in Hindi and on the 8 June in English in the newspaper “Crossroad”.

The draft of the programme was met with exceptional approval by the party organizations, and its publication gave them hope that the intra-party crisis will be overcome, that unity will be restored and it led to a radical improvement in the activities of the party.

In a statement by the West Bengal Provincial Committee of the Communist Party, published in a newspaper on May 24, 1951, it is stated:

“The West Bengal Committee of the Communist Party welcomes without any hesitation the draft programme of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India...This program charts the path for all activities of the party and will serve as a guide for its mass movement at the present time.

Provincial Committee in all seriousness believes that this draft programme will also serve as a basis for us to unite the ranks of the party.” The draft of the programme was also positively received by other democratic parties and mass organizations. The leadership of the Peasant Workers’ Party of Maharashtra declared that it fully agreed with the point of view of the Communist Party on questions about the nature of the Indian revolution, the present stage of the Revolution and the forms of struggle.

The reactionary press without even outlining the content of the draft programme, printed slanderous articles against the Communist Party. The newspaper National Herald closely associated with Nehru described the draft of the programme as unrealistic and a fantasy without explaining the reasons for such a characterization.

In May 1951, a meeting of the CC of the Communist Party was held at which the request of comrade Rajeshwara Rao to release him from the duties of the general secretary was approved and it was decided to give the Politburo the right to act as secretary of the Central Committee until the convening of the party conference; leadership of the secretariat was entrusted to comrade A. K. Ghosh.

At the same meeting of the Central Committee, the draft programme of the party and the document on tactics were discussed. The Central Committee instructed the Politburo to prepare and publish a policy statement based on the document on tactics. While discussing the draft programme and the document on tactics, some members of the Central Committee felt that there was a lack of clarity on certain issues of policy and tactics of the party, especially on the issue of the party’s attitude towards the national bourgeoisie. Whether the big bourgeoisie as a whole has gone over to the side of imperialism, whether all the Indian monopolists cooperate with the imperialists and which of them can be included in this category? Various points of view were expressed on these issues during the discussion. The confusion on the question of the attitude towards the national bourgeoisie some members explained by the fact that the formulations of the draft programme on these questions diverge from the formulations of the Soviet orientalists - Zhukov, Dyakov, Balabushevich and others who hold the view that the big bourgeoisie has totally crossed over to the imperialist camp.

Some members of the Central Committee considered it wrong to abandon the slogan of nationalization of the main industries; they spoke in favor of including, in the draft programme, a point for confiscation of property of those who cooperate with imperialism.

Some controversy also occurred on the question of assessing Nehru’s foreign policy. Party members in the peace committees said that the characterization of the Nehru government given in the draft programme underestimates the positive role played by Nehru which consists in hindering the war plans of US imperialism.

Doubts were expressed about the correctness in some places of the wording of the draft programme and on other issues as well. But as a result of a detailed discussion, the CC unanimously approved both the documents.

From the end of May to October, the draft programme was discussed at the conferences of the provincial and city party organizations. The draft programme and policy statement were met with deep interest everywhere. Yusuf, the leader of the provincial organization of the Communist Party of Uttar Pradesh, described the significance of the draft programme for the entire party as a whole:

“This programme is a new contribution and a powerful weapon in the hands of the Communist Party. It will be a new source of strength for the Communist Party and show the path along which it must lead the country.”

All the party conferences unanimously approved the draft programme and the policy statement, but at many of these conferences there was uncertainty about certain formulations as well as there were some amendments and statements of inclusion of other issues. The Provincial Organization Committee of the party of Kerala province said that the draft programme emphasizes the need to fight against British imperialism and does not pay attention to American imperialism, does not raise the question of confiscation of American capital and the dismissal of American advisers. The decision of the provincial party committee of Kerala declares that it would be necessary to conduct an intense struggle against American imperialism which is the main enemy of the peoples of the world; that the draft programme does not mention the role of the National Congress as an organization of the big bourgeoisie; the reactionary role of the leadership of the Socialist Party is not exposed; nothing is said about the abolition of feudal taxes, the elimination of slave labour and about any guarantee regarding sufficient prices for agricultural produce. Comrades from the Kerala organisation opine that it would be wrong to bracket India and Ceylon together as it may give rise to misgivings about the imperialist ambitions of India. According to Kerala comrades The projection of the programme should have included an item on the immediate reunification with India of the French and Portuguese possessions in India, on the freedom of religion, equality of women in people’s democratic India. They also note that the Marwari and Gujarati monopolists impose Hindi language on other nationalities, thereby exacerbating national discord. Regarding the characterization of Nehru’s government the party organization of Kerala makes a proposal to assess the policies of the government by separately evaluating positively the measures serving the cause of peace while exposing the government’s pro-imperialist steps.

The conference of communist and leaders of the peasant movement in the province of Bihar, in its decision, noted the historical significance of the draft programme and the statements on the policy of the Communist Party, which have redefined the main tasks of the Communist Party. The decision of the conference expressed confidence that the documents of the Communist Party will help to overcome the intra-party crisis, rally and strengthen its forces and allow it to take an honourable place at the head of the national democratic forces fighting for freedom, democracy and peace. The conference unanimously approved the documents, but along with it separate comments and proposals were also added.

The decision of the conference indicates that the draft programme overestimates the consciousness of the broad masses of the people and expresses doubts that the people of India have already understood that the current government has been put in power with the consent of British imperialists. Comrades from the Bihar party organization raise the question of including in the programme the issue of confiscation and nationalization of the capital of the big bourgeoisie that cooperates with the imperialists, as well as the capital of all monopoly groups of the bourgeoisie. They demand nationalisation of the main branches of industry and also nationalisation of American capital in India. The conference demanded that the question of the struggle for the unity of peasant organizations and the creation of independent organizations of agricultural workers needs to be noted in the programme.

Comments on the draft programme and policy statement were also made by the provincial committees of the United Provinces, of West Bengal and many individual Communists. As the party organizations of other provinces, they also expressed their perplexity on questions about the attitude towards various groups of the national bourgeoisie, on the struggle against American imperialists, nationalization of the main industries, characteristics of the class nature of the current Indian government and on the evaluation of the foreign policy of Nehru’s government. The Provincial Committee of West Bengal in its decision declares that the characterization of the Nehru government is the weakest point of the draft programme, since various expressions are used for it and, according to the comrades from Bengal, it results in real confusion. This is the government of the landowners, of princes and big business that are cooperating with the British imperialists...

...A government run by landowners and speculators.

A government entirely in the grip of financier-monopolists, of the landlords and princes and their foreign British advisers...

Some communists opposing the assessment of foreign policy of Nehru’s government in the draft programme refer to the following statements of Palme Dutt:

“In India, under the pressure of growing anti-imperialist sentiments, the first tentative steps have already been taken towards establishing ties with China and the Soviet Union in protest against the latest decisions of the Anglo-American bloc on the issue of Korea and the Acheson plan aimed at undermining the United Nations”.

This statement by comrade P. Dutt certainly makes it difficult for some Indian communists to understand the manoeuvring of the Nehru government between the camp of democracy and the camp of imperialism.

Those communists who want to intensify the struggle against American imperialism as the main enemy and propagate confiscation of American capital in India also refer to the statements of comrade Dutt:

“The struggle of the peoples of the empire for national independence can no longer be regarded in isolation as a struggle only against British imperialism, as in the days when British imperialism was the dominant and the most active imperialist force in the world. Now it is a fight against the Anglo-American imperialism in which American imperialism is the most powerful and aggressive imperialist force in the world and British imperialism is just a junior partner.

Despite some ambiguities due to differences of opinion on certain issues, all party organizations unanimously approved the draft programme and policy statement. In the decision of the conference of provincial and city party organizations it is noted that on the basis of a new programme and a new political line, the party is restoring the unity of ties with mass organizations in order to consolidate its strength.

In October, the All India Conference of the Communist Party of India was held. In a statement of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India, published on October 28, 1951, it is stated that the conference, with some amendments, unanimously approved the draft programme and policy statement put forward by the Central Committee and the Politburo.

“The conference decided that since these two documents form the basis of the strategy and tactics of the revolutionary movement in our country and resolve all disputes and disagreements that have existed in the party over the past few years, they should now become the basis for agitation and propaganda as well as for the practical daily work of all Party organizations and Party members. The whole party must re-educate itself and unite to ensure the implementation of the political line set out in these documents.

The conference also resolved that all local organizations of the party should devote their entire attention and energy to the forthcoming elections and to the cause of creating the broadest possible united front in order to replace the present Congress government with a truly democratic government”.

The conference unanimously elected a new Central Committee of the Party, which in turn elected a seven-member Politburo. The Central Committee elected Ajoy Ghosh as the General Secretary of the Party.

The speeches of the delegates and the decisions of the conference show that the process of rallying the party, which began with the publication of the project and the programme, is moving forward and that a solid foundation has been created for the ideological, political and organizational unity of the party.

Describing the situation within the party on the eve of the All Indian Party Conference, comrade Ghosh notes that from the time of the publication of the draft programme, great changes have occurred in the party and the intra party crisis has been resolved. “Dissatisfaction with the National Congress has never been so strong as at the present time and the popularity of our party has never been so widespread”.

Noting that the conference was a significant factor contributing to the rallying of the rank and file of the party, comrade Ghosh nevertheless points to a lack of unity among the members of the party on some points of the draft programme, in particular on questions about the attitude towards various groups of the national bourgeoisie and the assessment of the class essence and foreign policy of the Nehru government, i.e. basically on the same issues that caused different opinions at the conferences of provincial and city organizations.

The struggle of the Communist Party for the unity of the working class, for the re-establishment of a united peasant organization, for the unification of all democratic mass organizations, all of which intensified after the publication of the draft programme, evoked a lively response among the masses of the people.

The leadership of the All India Congress of Trade Unions, that is under the influence of the communist party, puts forward the slogan. “ One trade union for each branch of industry, one trade union organization for all workers.”

A conference of the All India Union of Railway Workers, held in April 1951, decided to dissolve itself and recommended that all unions of railway workers should join the All India Federation of Railway Workers. Contrary to the prohibition of the leadership of the Socialist Party, the local organizations of the trade unions under its influence often act together with the unions that are members of all the Indian Congress of Trade Unions. The general secretary of the Congress of the United Trade Unions (so called independent), Mrinol Kanti Bose made an appeal for cooperation with the Communist Party. The trade unions headed by him act everywhere together with the trade unions under the leadership of the Communist Party.

In solidarity with the Communist Party in the struggle for the unity of democratic forces, Aruna Asif Ali, the leader of the left Socialist group that broke away from the Socialist Party of India, said that the unification of all the democratic forces of the country and their resolute struggle for true independence is possible only under the leadership of the Communist Party. As a result of the joint efforts of the All India Congress of Trade Unions and the Left Socialist Group, in June 1951, the two largest Bombay Textile Trade Unions merged into a single Union uniting 250,000 workers.

The strengthening of the Communist Party and the growth of its influence among the broad masses of the Indian people contributed in ending the fissures in the All Indian peasant organization of ‘Kisan Sabha in 1945.

At the end of August 1951, a meeting of representatives of the All Indian Kisan Sabha and the All India United Kisan Sabha, which had existed in parallel since 1945, was held in Patna. The meeting decided to unite both these peasant organizations and henceforth name the organization as All India Kisan Sabha or “Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha”. As a temporary measure till the convocation of the congress, a well-known figure of the Communist Party Bankim Mukarji was elected the chairman of the Kisan Sabha.

Even more striking evidence that the Communist Party is restoring its ties with the masses of the people, that its authority is constantly growing and many progressive parties and political organizations are speaking out for cooperation with the Communist Party, is provided by the election campaign conducted by the Communist Party.

In early August 1951, the Communist Party of India published it’s election manifesto in which it states that the future people’s democratic government should break ties with the British Empire, remove British officers from the armed forces, confiscate and nationalize all British capital in India, take effective measures to crush the resistance of those who stand together with the imperialists and the feudal lords against the people, cancel the debts of the peasants, confiscate from the landlords and princes without paying them any compensation and transfer free of charge all the land and tools of production to those who cultivate the land and make sure that the small landowner is provided means of livelihood and that the interests of rich peasants are not undermined...”The people’s democratic government will develop industries in India using nationalized capital and enlist the cooperation of private industrialists who will be guaranteed statutory profits and their interests shall be protected.” It further states that the people’s democratic government will create a people’s army, establish a regime of complete civil freedom in the country, will protect the interests of national minorities, will put an end to caste oppression and will provide women equal rights with men.

The leadership of the Communist Party achieved the official inclusion of the Communist Party in the list of parties that are allowed to nominate candidates for deputies on a separate list on behalf of the party. The Communist Party is making great efforts to unite all the progressive elements in the struggle for elections. The election manifesto of the Communist Party states that united action is an urgent need and, only as a result of the joint actions of the people, can the current government be removed. On the initiative of the Communist Party and under its leadership, pre-election blocs have been created in all states, principalities and unions of principalities, and these have different names in different states: “United Left Front”, “United Progressive Bloc” and so on. Local organizations of the following parties established pre-election blocs with the organizations of the Communist Party in the states and principalities: The Marxist group of the party Forward Bloc, Workers and Peasants party, the left socialist group led by Aruna Asif Ali, of the United Socialist organization¹, All Indian Congress of Trade Unions, All Indian organization of peasants “Kisan Sabha”. In some States, despite being prohibited by the leadership of the Socialist Party of India, its local organizations often participate in a bloc with the Communist Party. An All India electoral bloc has not yet been established.

Election rallies by the progressive bloc attract tens of thousands of participants. For example, about 150,000 people participated in the election rally in the city of Calicut.

The growing influence of the Communist Party among the masses has caused confusion and fear among the ruling circles of India, who feed on repression against the Communist Party and make it difficult for it to participate in the election campaign and, even more so, to prevent a successful outcome for the Communist Party in the elections. The position of the Communist Party is further complicated by the fact that thousands of communists, including many important leaders of the party organizations in the states, are in prison. In addition, in many States and principalities, leading members of the Communist Party nominated as candidates are arrested and the activities of progressive organizations are prohibited.

In order to prevent the expansion of the influence of the Communist parties among the masses, the authorities forbid the leaders of the Communist Party to give speeches and even attend election rallies. Thus in Travancore and Cochin, Ajay Ghosh, the secretary general of the CC Communist Party, and Gopalan, another important Communist leader, are not allowed to attend mass meetings. Thus the ruling National Congress Party is using every means to prevent the leaders of the Communist Party to get elected to the national parliament and state legislatures.

The beginning of the election campaign in India shows that the Communist Party and the Left Front, led by them, are inflicting serious blows to the National Congress. According to the election data, in the elections to the legislative councils of a number of states, out of 275 electoral constituencies, the National Congress won a total of 167 seats and the United Front despite a police crackdown, still managed to win 32 seats, which is more than any other party with the exception of the Congress. Of this number the National Congress won 35 seats and the United Front — 20. In the principality of Hyderabad out of 44 seats, the Congress won 21 seats and the Peoples’ Democratic Front under communist leadership won 11.

The first successes of the joint performances of progressive parties and organizations in the elections are the result of the struggle of the Communist Party of India for the unity of the Indian people and evidence of the growing influence of the Communist Party in the masses of the growth, the trust of the progressive organizations and their recognition of the leading role of the party.

All these factors, in turn, are evidence of the fact that the Indian Communist Party is now creating a base for the transition to the next stage of uniting the broad masses of the people towards the creation of a United National Front for the fulfillment of the tasks outlined in the programme of the Communist Party.

Translated from the Russian by Tahir Asghar

Endnote:

1 The United Socialist Organization includes the following political parties and groups: Forward Bloc, Socialist Unity, East Punjab Organization “Servants of the Peoples”, Workers and Peasant Party of Bombay, Praja Mandal of Bengal, organisation of the veterans of the so called Indian National Army, Socialist Republican Party, the Bihar peasants organisation, Peasants and Workers Party of Maharashtra, Congress of United Trade Unions, Bolshevik Party, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Revolutionary Communist Party, Bolshevik Workers Party. Most of these parties do not have all India presence and their influence is limited to a few and often only one state.

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