Socialize

On 25 December 1925, a communist conference was organised in Kanpur, attended by around 500 delegates (according to colonial authorities). The conference was convened by Satyabhakta, who argued for a concept of “National Communism” and opposed subordination to the Communist International (Comintern). However, his views were outvoted by the other delegates, and in protest, he left the venue.

The conference adopted the name “Communist Party of India (CPI)”. Groups such as the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan (LKPH) merged into this unified CPI. The émigré CPI, which until then had limited organic character, was effectively replaced by the organisation now functioning inside India.

CPI and Workers & Peasants Parties

Following the 1926 conference of the Workers and Peasants Party (WPP) of Bengal, the underground CPI directed its members to work through provincial WPPs, which became the open front organisations of Indian communists. All legal communist activities were channelled through these parties.

At the Sixth Congress of the Communist International (1928), international strategy shifted after the Kuomintang turned against Chinese communists (1927). The Colonial Theses of the Congress urged Indian communists to:

• Combat the “national-reformist leaders”.

• Expose the passive resistance tactics of Swarajists and Gandhists.

• Utilise the contradictions between the national bourgeoisie and British imperialists.

Although the Swarajist Party was not seen as a direct enemy, it was considered unreliable as an ally. The Congress also denounced the WPP, and the Tenth Plenum of the Comintern (July 1929) instructed Indian communists to break away. With the communists’ exit, the WPP collapsed.

The Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929–1933)

On 20 March 1929, leaders of the WPP, CPI, and other labour movements were arrested across India in what became known as the Meerut Conspiracy Case. The colonial government sought to suppress communist influence by charging the leadership with conspiracy against the state.

The trial lasted four years, during which much of the CPI leadership remained behind bars, severely restricting the Party’s open activities.

CPI in the 1930s

By 1934, the main centres of CPI activity were Bombay, Calcutta, and Punjab, with the Party gradually expanding into Madras Presidency. During this period, a group of Andhra and Tamil students, including P. Sundarayya, were recruited into the Party by veteran communist Amir Hyder Khan.

This marked the beginning of a new phase of expansion for the CPI, with stronger organisational roots in southern India.