Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Name

CPI(M) is officially known as Bhārat kī Kamyunisṭ Pārṭī (Mārksvādī) in Hindi, but it is often known as Mārksvādī Kamyunisṭ Pārṭī, abbreviated MaKaPa, in press and media circles. During its initial years after the split, the party was often referred to by different names such as 'Left Communist Party' or 'Communist Party of India (Left)'. The party has used the name 'Left' because CPI people were dubbed 'rightist' in nature for their support of the Congress-Nehru regime. During the Kerala Legislative Assembly elections of 1965, the party adopted the name 'Communist Party of India (Marxist)'. It also applied to obtain its election symbol from the Election Commission of India.

Background

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) emerged from a division within the Communist Party of India. The CPI had experienced an upsurge in support during the years following the World War II; it had also led armed rebellions in Telangana, Tripura, and Kerala. However, it soon abandoned the strategy of armed revolution in favor of working within the Parliament framework. In 1950, B. T. Ranadive, the CPI general secretary and a prominent representative of the radical sector inside the party, was demoted on grounds of left-adventurism.

Under the government of the Indian National Congress party of Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India developed close relations and a strategic partnership with the Soviet Union. The Soviet government consequently wished that the Indian communists moderate their criticism towards the Indian state and assume a supportive role towards the Congress governments. However, large sections of the CPI claimed that India remained a semi-feudal country and that class conflict could not be put on the back-burner for the sake of guarding the interests of Soviet trade and foreign policy. Moreover, the Indian National Congress appeared to be generally hostile towards political competition. In 1959 the central government intervened to impose President's rule in Kerala, toppling the E. M. S. Namboodiripad cabinet (the sole non-Congress state government in the country).

History

Formation (1964)

The basis of difference in opinion between the two factions in CPI was ideological—about the assessment of the Indian scenario and the development of a party programme. This difference in opinion was also a reflection of whether the Communist Party in India would toe the line of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) or follow an independent path based on the concrete analysis of the Indian situation. The alleged 'right-wing' inside the party followed the Soviet path whereas the 'left-wing' wanted to follow the mass party with a class line with national characteristics, based on the 'independent' development of socialism in accordance to the India situation. Moreover, the faction of CPI which later became CPI(M) referred to the "right" strategy as a national approach of class collaboration; this was a damning charge within the communist movement, in which the prioritization of working-class interests and independence is considered paramount. Ideological difference also grew on the analysis of the role and character of the Indian bourgeoisie and the character of the Indian revolution. While the 'right wing' in the party sought the Indian bourgeoisie to have a 'progressive' character and called for a national democratic revolution, the 'left wing' sought the character of the Indian bourgeoisie to be essentially reactionary and called for a peoples' democratic revolution. However, as the 'left wing' grew, the Congress and the party's 'right wing' dubbed them as pro-Chinese and essentially made extensive efforts to incriminate them of committing 'anti-national' activities. This ideological difference later intensified, and ultimately gave rise to the establishment of CPI(M).

Hundreds of CPI leaders, accused of being pro-Chinese, were imprisoned. Thousands of Communists were detained without trial.

The CPI(M) has a strong history of championing labour rights and it supports the rights of industrial labourers, demanding fair wages, safe working conditions, and the right to unionize.

In 1962, Ajoy Ghosh, the General Secretary of the CPI died. After his death, Shripad Amrit Dange was installed as the party chairman (a new position) and E.M.S. Namboodiripad as general secretary. This was an attempt to achieve a compromise.

At a CPI National Council meeting held on 11 April 1964, 32 Council members walked out.

Early years (1964–1966)

The CPI (M) was born into a hostile political climate. At the time of the holding of its Calcutta Congress, large sections of its leaders and cadres were jailed without trial. Again on 29–30 December, over a thousand CPI (M) cadres were arrested and detained and held in jail without trial. In 1965, new waves of arrests of CPI(M) cadres took place in West Bengal, as the party launched agitations against the rise in fares in the Calcutta Tramways Company and against the then-prevailing food crisis. Statewide general strikes and hartals were observed on 5 August 1965, 10–11 March 1966, and 6 April 1966. The March 1966 general strike resulted in several deaths during confrontations with police forces.

Also in Kerala, mass arrests of CPI(M) cadres were carried out during 1965. In Bihar, the party called for a Bandh (general strike) in Patna on 9 August 1965 in protest against the Congress state government. During the strike, police resorted to violent actions against the organizers of the strike. The strike was followed by agitations in other parts of the state.

P. Sundaraiah, after being released from jail, spent the period of September 1965 to February 1966 in Moscow for medical treatment. In Moscow, he also held talks with the CPSU.

The Central Committee of CPI(M) held its first meeting on 12–19 June 1966. The reason for delaying the holding of a regular CC meeting was that several of the persons elected as CC members at the Calcutta Congress were jailed at the time. A CC meeting had been scheduled to have been held in Thrissur during the last days of 1964, but had been canceled due to the wave of arrests against the party. The meeting discussed tactics for electoral alliances and concluded that the party should seek to form a broad electoral alliance with all non-reactionary opposition parties in West Bengal (i.e. all parties except Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party). This decision was strongly criticized by the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Party of Labour of Albania, the Communist Party of New Zealand, and the radicals within the party itself. The line was changed at a National Council meeting in Jalandhar in October 1966, where it was decided that the party should only form alliances with select left parties.

Naxalbari uprising (1967)

At this point, the party stood at crossroads. There were radical sections of the party who were wary of the increasing parliamentary focus of the party leadership, especially after the electoral victories in West Bengal and Kerala. Developments in China also affected the situation inside the party. In West Bengal, two separate internal dissident tendencies emerged, which both could be identified as supporting the Chinese line.

In 1967, a peasant uprising broke out in Naxalbari, in northern West Bengal. The insurgency was led by hardline district-level CPI(M) leaders Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal. The hardliners within CPI(M) saw the Naxalbari uprising as the spark that would ignite the Indian revolution. Majumdar and others broke from CPI(M). The CPC hailed the Naxalbari movement, causing an abrupt break in CPI(M)-CPC relations. Majumdar and his group formed the Maoist-oriented Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninst) in 1969.

The Naxalbari movement was violently repressed by the West Bengal government, of which CPI(M) was a major partner. Within the party, the hardliners rallied around an All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries. Following the 1968 Burdwan plenum of CPI(M) (held on 5–12 April 1968), the AICCCR separated itself from CPI(M). This split divided the party throughout the country. But notably in West Bengal, which was the center of the violent radicalized stream, no prominent leading figure left the party. The party and the Naxalites (as the rebels were called) were soon to get into a bloody feud.

In Andhra Pradesh, another revolt was taking place. There the pro-Naxalbari dissidents had not established any presence. However, in the party organization, there were many veterans from the Telangana armed struggle; they rallied against the central party leadership. In Andhra Pradesh, the radicals had a strong base even amongst the state-level leadership. The main leader of the radical tendency was T. Nagi Reddy, a member of the state legislative assembly. On 15 June 1968, the leaders of the radical tendency published a press statement outlining the critique of the development of CPI(M). It was signed by T. Nagi Reddy, D.V. Rao, Kolla Venkaiah, and Chandra Pulla Reddy.

In total, around 50% of the party cadres in Andhra Pradesh left the party to form the Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries, under the leadership of T. Nagi Reddy.

Dismissal of United Front governments in West Bengal and Kerala (1967–1970)

In November 1967, the West Bengal United Front government was dismissed by the central government. Initially, the Indian National Congress formed a minority government led by Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, but that cabinet did not last long. Following the proclamation that the United Front government had been dislodged, a 48-hour hartal was effective throughout the state. After the fall of the Ghosh cabinet, the state was put under President's Rule. CPI(M) launched agitations against the interventions of the central government in West Bengal.

The 8th Party Congress of CPI(M) was held in Kochi, Kerala, on 23–29 December 1968. On 25 December 1968, whilst the congress was held, 42 Dalits were burned alive in the Tamil Nadu village of Kizhavenmani. The massacre was a retaliation from landlords after Dalit labourers had taken part in a CPI(M)-led agitation for higher wages.

The United Front government in Kerala was forced out of office in October 1969, as the CPI, RSP, KTP, and Muslim League ministers resigned. E.M.S. Namboodiripad handed in his resignation on 24 October. A coalition government led by CPI leader C. Achutha Menon was formed, with the outside support of the Indian National Congress.

Fresh elections were held in West Bengal in 1969. CPI(M) contested 97 seats and won 80. The party was now the largest in the West Bengal legislative. However, with the active support of CPI and the Bangla Congress, Ajoy Mukherjee was returned as Chief Minister of the state. Mukherjee resigned on 16 March 1970, after a pact had been reached between CPI, Bangla Congress, and the Indian National Congress against CPI(M). CPI(M) strove to form a new government, instead but the central government put the state under President's Rule.

Land Reform

Though land reform was successfully done in three Indian states (West Bengal, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu), India's first land reform was done in West Bengal in 1967, under the leadership of two Communist leaders: Hare Krishna Konar and Benoy Choudhury, in which Hare Krishna Konar played a leading role in getting surplus land held by big land owners in excess of land ceiling laws and kept 'benami' (or false names) vested with the state. The quantum of land thus vested was around one million acres (4,000 km2) of good agricultural land. Subsequently, under the leadership of Hare Krishna Konar and Benoy Choudhury land was distributed amongst 2.4 million landless and poor farmers. Later after 1970 the united front government of west Bengal fail and the land reform was also stopped for seven years and after left front came in West Bengal in 1977 this land reform was renamed to Operation Barga and this barga was the notable contribution to the people from Left Front Government of West Bengal. To begin with, group meetings between Officials and Bargadars were organized during "settlement camps" (also called "Reorientation camps"), where the bargadars could discuss their grievances. The first such camp was held at Halusai in Polba taluk in Hooghly district from 18 to 20 May 1978. In noted camp, two Adibashi Borgaders objected procedure adopted by the official for Barga Operation. They suggested to start it organising people in the field instead of sitting in the houses of rural rich people or the places dominated by them.

Formation of CITU (1970)

Centre of Indian Trade Unions, CITU is a National level Trade Union in India and its trade union wing is a spearhead of the Indian Trade Union Movement. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions is today one of biggest assembly of workers and classes of India. It has strong unchallengeable presence in the Indian state of Tripura besides a good presence in West Bengal, Kerala and Kanpur. They have an average presence in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

According to the provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, CITU had a membership of approximately 6,040,000 in 2015. Tapan Kumar Sen is the General Secretary and K. Hemalata is the president of CITU. K. Hemalata was the first woman President in CITU who was elected after A. K. Padmanabhan. It runs a monthly organ named Working Class. CITU is affiliated to the World Federation of Trade Unions.

Outbreak of war in East Pakistan (1971–1972)

In 1971, Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) declared its independence from Pakistan. The Pakistani military tried to quell the uprising. India intervened militarily and gave active backing to the Bangladeshi rebels. Millions of Bangladeshi refugees sought shelter in India, especially in West Bengal.

At the time, the radical sections of the Bangladeshi communist movement were divided into many factions. Whilst the pro-Soviet Communist Party of Bangladesh actively participated in the rebellion, the pro-China communist tendency found itself in a peculiar situation as China had sided with Pakistan in the war. In Calcutta, where many Bangladeshi leftists had sought refuge, CPI(M) worked to co-ordinate the efforts to create a new political organization. In the fall of 1971 three small groups, which were all hosted by the CPI(M), came together to form the Bangladesh Communist Party (Leninist). The new party became the sister party of CPI(M) in Bangladesh.

Boycott of Assembly and Emergency rule (1972–1977)

In 1975, the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi imposed a State of emergency on the premise of internal disturbances suspending elections, legitimising rule by decree and curbing civil liberties. The proposition for the declaration of the emergency and the formal draft of the ordinance were both notably corroborated to have been forwarded by Siddhartha Shankar Ray. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) emerged as one of the primary opposition to The Emergency (India). The following period witnessed a succession of authoritarian measures and political repression, which was particularly severe in West Bengal. The members of the CPI-M's labour union became the first subject to political repression and mass arrests while the rest of the members of the CPI-M went underground.

With the initiation of the Jayaprakash Narayan (JP)'s movement, the CPI-M began providing support to it and went on to participate in discussions for the creation of a united front under the umbrella of the Janata Party. Several of the leaders of the CPI-M were also influenced by JP with Jyoti Basu noted to be one of his prominent admirers having worked under him in the All India Railwaymen's Federation during the 1940s. The involvement of the Hindutva movement however complicated matters, according to JP the formal inclusion of the marxists who had undergone a splintering and whose organisation was localised in particular region would have been detrimental to the movement as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members would switch sides if they joined. JP and Basu eventually came to an agreement that the CPI-M would not formally join the Janata Party as it would weaken the movement. After the revocation of the emergency, the CPI-M joined an electoral alliance with the Janata Party in the 1977 Indian general election which resulted in an overwhelming victory for the Janata Alliance.

Left Front Government formation in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura assembly (1977 afterwards)

CPI(M) West Bengal under the leadership of Jyoti Basu fought the 1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election. Initially, the election was planned to fight in alliance with the Janata Party, but the negotiations between the parties broke down. This led to a three sided contested between the Indian National Congress, the Janata Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) led Left Front coalition. The results of the election was a surprising sweep for the Left Front winning 230 seats out of 290 with the CPI-M winning an absolute majority on its own, Basu became the Chief Minister of West Bengal. From the 1977 election through to 2011, the CPI(M) led Left Front won seven consecutive elections. Under Jyoti Basu's leadership the Left Front won, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1996 elections. For the next 23 years he was the Chief Minister of West Bengal making him the longest serving at this position.

In the late 2000s, the Left Front saw a change in leadership. Under the leadership of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the Left Front won the elections of 2001 elections and 2006. From 2000 to 2011, remained the Chief Minister of West Bengal for 11 years.

Following the events of 2007 Nandigram anti land acquisition violence and the 2006 Singur anti land acquisition violence, led by opposition parties in West Bengal. In the 2011 assembly election lost the elections marking the end of 34-year rule of Left Front, the longest-serving democratically elected communist government in the world, a fact that was noted by international media. After 2021 elections the Left Front has no representatives in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

After the CPI split in 1964, prominent communist leader 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 splinter faction of CPI, emerged as the largest party in the assembly with 40 seats, whereas the CPI settled with 3 seats only. 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.

International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties

In 2009, CPI(M) hosted 11th International Communist Parties Meeting in New Delhi. The summit was attended by 57 communist parties from 48 countries.

Leadership and organisation

Leadership

The 24th Congress of the CPI(M) held between 2 and 6 April 2025 at Madurai, Tamil Nadu elected an 85-member Central Committee with one seat left vacant. There are also seven special invitees and fout permanent invitees to the Central Committee. The Central Committee at its meeting held on 6 April 2025 at the conclusion of the Congress elected a 18-member Politburo. The Central Committee also elected Com. M. A. Baby as the General Secretary. The post of General Secretary was left vacant after the death of Sitaram Yechury on 12 September 2024.

General Secretaries

Article XV, Section 15 of the party constitution says:

"No person can hold the position of the General Secretary for more than three full terms. Full term means the period between two Party Congresses. In a special situation, a person who has completed three full terms as General Secretary may be re-elected for a fourth term provided it is so decided by the Central Committee with a three-fourth majority. But in no case can that person be elected again for another term in addition to the fourth term."

Principal mass organisations

Democratic Youth Federation of India

Students' Federation of India

Centre of Indian Trade Unions

All India Kisan Sabha

All India Agricultural Workers Union

All India Democratic Women's Association

Balasangam

Bank Employees Federation of India

Ganamukti Parishad, Tripura

Tribal Youth Federation, Tripura

Adivasi Kshema Samithi, Kerala

International affiliation

Communist Party of India Marxist is internationally affiliated to IMCWP and Unity for Peace and Socialism.

Its members in Great Britain are in the electoral front Unity for Peace and Socialism, with the Communist Party of Britain and the British-domiciled sections of the Communist Party of Bangladesh and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). It stood 13 candidates in the London-wide list section of the London Assembly elections in May 2008.

Indian general elections results

1967 general election

In the 1967 Lok Sabha elections, the CPI(M) nominated 59 candidates. In total 19 of them were elected. The party received 6.2 million votes (4.28% of the nationwide vote). By comparison, CPI won 23 seats and got 5.11% of the nationwide vote. In the state legislative elections held simultaneously, the CPI(M) emerged as a major party in Kerala and West Bengal. In Kerala, a United Front government led by E.M.S. Namboodiripad was formed. In West Bengal, the CPI(M) was the main force behind the United Front government formed. The Chief Ministership was given to Ajoy Mukherjee of the Bangla Congress (a regional splinter group of the Indian National Congress).

1971 general election

With the backdrop of the Bangladesh War and the emerging role of Indira Gandhi as a populist national leader, the 1971 election to the Lok Sabha was held. The CPI(M) contested 85 seats and won in 25. In total the party mustered 7510089 votes (5.12% of the national vote). 20 of the seats came from West Bengal (including Somnath Chatterjee, elected from Burdwan), two from Kerala (including A.K. Gopalan, elected from Palakkad), two from Tripura (Biren Dutta and Dasarath Deb) and one from Andhra Pradesh.

In the same year, state legislative elections were held in three states; West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha. In West Bengal CPI(M), had 241 candidates, winning 113 seats. In total the party mustered 4241557 votes (32.86% of the statewide vote). In Tamil Nadu CPI(M), contested 37 seats but won none of them, obtaining 259298 votes (1.65% of the statewide vote). In Odisha, the party contested 11 seats and won in two. The CPI(M) vote in the state was 52785 (1.2% of the statewide vote).

1977 general election

In the 1977 Lok Sabha election, the CPI(M) fielded its candidates on 53 seats scattered around in 14 states and union territories of India. It won 4.29% of the average votes polled in this election. The party had won 17 seats from West Bengal, three from Maharashtra, and one each from Odisha and Punjab. This election was done shortly after the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi and reflected a wide uproar of masses against her draconian rule. A coalition of Opposition parties was formed against the Congress regime; CPI(M) too supported this coalition by not fielding its candidates against the Janta Party.

1980 general elections

The Janta Party coalition did not last long, and two years after its formation India faced the 1980 Lok Sabha election. This election saw an increase in the vote percentage of CPI(M) and the party secured more seats than the previous elections. The Party had contested elections in the 15 states and union territories of India and fielded its candidates on 64 seats. The party had won 37 seats in total. It won 28 seats in West Bengal, seven in Kerala, and two seats in Tripura. The party emerged out as the whole sole representative of the people of Tripura in this election.

2014 Lok Sabha election

Nine CPI(M) candidates were elected in the 2014 Indian general election, as well as two CPI(M)-supported independents. This is further down from the previous number of 16. The national vote share of CPI(M) has also shrunk from 5.33% in 2009 to mere 3.28% in 2014. This is a significant 38.5% reduction within a span of five years which is consistent with the overall decline of the left in India. CPI(M) did not win a single seat in Tamil Nadu and its seats went down from 9 to 2 in West Bengal where it is being heavily eroded by Mamata Banerjee governed AITC. Kerala is the only state where CPI(M) gained one more seat but this is mainly attributed to the splitting of anti-LDF votes between the UDF and emerging NDA. The NDA saw a sharp spike in vote share in decades which came coupled with a sharp decline in UDF votes. Thus, it is assumed that the NDA cut into UDF votes thereby facilitating victory for LDF. This was again mirrored during the 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election, which saw the NDA getting entry into the State Assembly for the first time as BJP veteran O. Rajagopal wins the Nemom seat and CPI(M)'s Pinarayi Vijayan forming the LDF-ruled government.

2019 general election

The CPI(M) contested on 69 seats nationwide and won three in the 2019 general election. One seat was won in Kerala, where the CPI(M) is leading the state government. Two other seats were won in Tamil Nadu, where the CPI(M) contested within the DMK-led coalition.

2024 general election

The CPI(M) contested on 52 seats nationwide and won four in the 2024 general election. One seat was won in Kerala, One seat in Rajasthan and two more in Tamil Nadu under the-DMK led coalition.

Presence in states and politics

As of 2026, In Tamil Nadu it has 2 MLAs and provides confidence and supply to TVK government led by Joseph C.Vijay. The Left Front under CPI(M) governed West Bengal for an uninterrupted 34 years (1977–2011) and Tripura for 30 years, including 25 uninterrupted years between 1993 and 2018. The 34 years of Left Front rule in West Bengal is the longest-serving democratically elected communist-led government in the world. CPI(M) currently has three MPs in Lok Sabha. CPI(M)'s highest tally was in 2004 when it got 5.66% of votes polled in and it had 43 MPs. It won 42.31% on an average in the 69 seats it contested. It supported the new Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, but without becoming a part of it. On 9 July 2008, it formally withdrew support from the UPA government explaining this by differences about the Indo-US nuclear deal and the IAEA Safeguards Agreement in particular.

Presence in Legislatures, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and local bodies by states or union territories

After formation of CPIM, CPIM came victorious in nine seats in 1967, one seat in 1972, eight seats in 1978, five seats in 1983, 11 seats in 1985, in six seats in 1989, 15 seats in 1994, two seats in 1999, nine seats in 2004 and one seat in 2009.

In 2014, CPIM won in one seat, which subsequently went to Telangana state. However, in 2019 CPIM won no seats. CPIM came victorious for many times in local body elections. During the 1988 Lok Sabha election, Tammineni Veerabhadram, one of prominent politicians of CPIM, gathered 352,083 votes (39.01%), finishing in second place, becoming the most voted CPI(M) candidate up to then outside of the left strongholds like West Bengal and Kerala.

CPIM had MPs in Andhra Pradesh rajyasabha multiple times including M. Hanumantha Rao from 1988 to 1994, Yalamanchili Radhakrishna Murthy from 1996 to 2002 and Penumalli Madhu from 2004 to 2010.

CPIM has a moderate presence in Assam and had run Government in the state once.

CPIM first time entered Assam Legislative Assembly in 1978 by winning 11 seats followed by two seats in 1983, two seats in 1985 and two seats in 1991. In the 1996 elections, CPIM won two seats with 1,76,721 votes. and along with Asom Gana Parishad they were in coalition government headed by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta for 1996–2001. But in 2001 elections, it drew blanks. In 2006, the CPI (M) had won two seats. Ananta Deka, Uddhav Barman represented CPIM from Rangia and Sorbhog seats. In 2011 and in 2016, CPIM drew blanks. In 2021, CPIM made a comeback with Mahajot winning one seat from Sorbhog by a margin of around 10,000 votes. In 2026, CPIM lost its only seat and once again got zero seats in assembly.

In lok sabha from Assam, CPIM first won in 1974 when Nurul Huda was elected in a by-election in Cachar lok sabha constituency in early 1974 by-elections. He defeated the Indian National Congress candidate and former Minister Mahitosh Purkayastha by a margin of 19,944 votes. CPIM had also won one seat in 1980, one seat in 1991 and one seat in 1996.

State legislative assembly election results

Indian Presidential elections

2002 presidential election

In the 2002 Presidential election, Left Front announced Captain Lakshmi Sehgal as its presidential candidate. Against her was the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. CPI(M)'s leadership announced that in form of Captain Lakshmi, they were fielding an 'Alternative Candidate'. They said that though it was clear that Captain Lakshmi could not become president because of the opposition of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Indian National Congress to her, yet through this Presidential Election, the Left wished to raise key national issues and make them heard by the masses. Captain Lakshmi herself pointed out that this Presidential election reflected the opposition of the Indian Left to the communal-sectarian politics of BJP, and the Left's solidarity with the religious minorities who had suffered greatly under the NDA's leadership.

2012 Presidential election

While CPI(M) supported Pranab Mukherjee as presidential candidate in 2012 presidential election, it was in favour of a non-Congress candidate for the post of the Vice-President.

List of Rajya Sabha members

Bold indicates CPI(M) leader in Rajya Sabha

Splits and offshoots

A large number of parties have been formed as a result of splits from the CPI(M), such as

CPI(ML)

CPI(ML)L

CPI(ML)RF

RMPI

MCPI(U)

PDS in West Bengal,

OCP in Odisha

CMP(J) in Kerala

Janganotantrik Morcha in Tripura

Lok Sangharsh Morcha in Punjab