The Communist Party of India is one of the oldest political parties in India. However within the Indian communist movement, there is a controversy on what date to consider as the foundation date of the party.[1] The early history of the Indian communist movement was tumultuous and complicated. An Indian communist group emerged in Tashkent in 1920, led by M. N. Roy. From 1921 onward small local communist groups began to emerge inside India. A national communist conference was held in Kanpur in 1925. The efforts to build a Communist Party organization inside India were hampered by arrests and court cases against leading party members.
Following the party split in 1964 the two main entities of the Indian communist movement, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) and the contemporary CPI would interpret the early party history differently. The CPI(M) maintains the party was founded in Tashkent in October 1920 whilst CPI argues that the party was founded in Kanpur in December 1925.[1]
- ^ a b Kiran Saxena (1990). Trade Union Movement and the National Movement. South Asian Publishers. p. 128. ISBN 978-81-7003-116-1.