CPI(ML)-Liberation: Naxalbari to Vidhan Sabha

Within the 2020 Bihar meeting elections, the Communist Celebration of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation received 12 seats from simply 19 contests — a 63% strike charge, among the many highest for any get together in Bihar, and a pointy enhance of 9 from its 2015 tally.

The get together’s victories have been concentrated in its conventional strongholds of south Bihar, significantly the Bhojpuri-speaking area. Right here, the CPI(ML)-Liberation’s origins hint to the fierce agrarian struggles of the Seventies. As documented by scholar Bela Bhatia within the EPW article, ‘The Naxalite Motion in Central Bihar’, the get together’s roots lie in Bhojpur district struggles led by figures like Jagdish Mahato, who had established contacts with Naxalite leaders in West Bengal. From this crucible, ML-Liberation emerged as a definite group amongst fragmented Naxalite factions. By 1995–96, its affect was vital, with Ms. Bhatia noting a presence in 11 districts of south-west Bihar, moreover a number of others in what would grow to be Jharkhand.

The get together’s strengthening marked a deliberate departure from the unique Naxalite legacy of Charu Mazumdar and his associates. The pivotal shift started in 1978 underneath former common secretary Vinod Mishra, when a “rectification marketing campaign” was launched. This was adopted in 1979 by the choice to participate in open “mass actions” by way of devoted “mass organizations”.

The early section, earlier than Mishra’s interventions, had targeted on assaults on oppressive landlords and confronting the state. The brand new line shifted technique in the direction of points like land and wages.

Underneath Mishra’s management, the get together fashioned the Indian Folks’s Entrance (IPF) and Bihar Pradesh Kisan Sabha (BPKS) to intervene in democratic and peasant struggles. By 1982, it had determined to contest elections on ‘tactical grounds’. By 1990, it started functioning brazenly as a communist get together. In 1994, the IPF was disbanded, permitting the get together to contest underneath its personal banner. The CPI(ML)-Liberation was acknowledged by the Election Fee and commenced contesting elections by 1996. Since 1998, it has been led by common secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya (in image).

Sturdy base

The get together’s progress in Bihar coincided with the flip to mass politics within the mid-Nineties and its elevated relevance in scholar politics in North India. Chandrasekhar Prasad, a former scholar chief from the All India College students Affiliation (AISA) — ML-Liberation’s scholar outfit — and a two-time president of the Jawaharlal Nehru College College students’ Union(JNUSU), was assassinated in 1997. He had returned to his hometown in Siwan to participate in lively politics. He was killed by criminals related to the then-RJD strongman Mohammad Shahabuddin. Chandrasekhar’s dying led to sturdy scholar protests throughout the nation but additionally demonstrated the get together’s dedication to constructing a presence in Bihar’s difficult political panorama.

This legacy endures in tangible methods. The get together holds two MLA seats in Siwan district, in Ziradei and Darauli. The scholar wing, AISA, stays a powerful leftist outfit in faculties in Delhi, significantly in JNU, and serves as a pipeline for future activists. A number of AISA leaders have gone on to take part as political activists within the ML-Liberation, together with former JNUSU President Dhananjay, who’s contesting within the Bhore constituency in Gopalgunj district within the present election.

Ideological variations persevered for years between the CPI(ML)-Liberation and mainstream left events just like the CPI and CPI(M). The get together was additionally concerned in clashes with the extra doctrinaire and violent Maoist Communist Heart (MCC), which later merged into the CPI (Maoist). Nevertheless, because it embraced mass fronts and mainstream politics, its strategic focus shifted. Throughout the BJP’s political hegemony, it recognized the risk from the BJP because the principal cause for forming united fronts towards ‘fascism’. This realignment led to the CPI(ML)-Liberation becoming a member of the INDIA bloc in 2023.

Whereas ideological variations with the CPI and CPI(M) persist, they’re much less pronounced, suggesting alignment with the mainstream Indian Left. Although not but a proper Left Entrance member, coordination has elevated and ideological hostility has decreased.

In distinction, the CPI(Maoist)’s persistence with armed wrestle has led to speedy decline, with the rebel group now going through an existential disaster.

In Bihar, the CPI(ML)-L has supplied the strongest ideological critique of the NDA. It has organized mass agitations associated to land redistribution and the indebtedness of the poor. This has helped it retain its assist. In contrast to the caste identity-based assist of the RJD, the CPI(ML)-Liberation maintains a base that transcends slim ethnic markers. It attracts broad assist from the poor, together with EBCs and Dalits, in its strongholds. This makes it a significant part of the Mahagatbandhan (MGB) in Bihar the place the RJD affords a excessive ground when it comes to assist however a restricted ceiling due to its limitations as a celebration representing Yadavs and Muslims and different events lack sturdy organizations within the State. A powerful efficiency by the CPI(ML)-Liberation within the Bihar elections won’t solely assist the MGB in a good contest, however will function a reinforcement of the get together’s evolution right into a sturdy mass-based political pressure.