Growth of Leftist Movement in India

This section takes us one step further from what we discussed earlier.
After socialist ideas started influencing Indian leaders like Nehru and Bose, now we see how the Leftist movement — particularly the Communist current within it — actually began to take shape as an organized political force in India.

Let’s understand this, so you can see not only what happened, but also why it happened, how it grew, and what impact it had on India’s national movement.

The Background: Rise of the Left in Late 1920s–30s

By the late 1920s and 1930s, India saw a powerful Left-wing emerge within and outside the Congress.
This Left contributed greatly to the radicalisation of the national movement — meaning the freedom struggle now started addressing class issues and economic exploitation, not just British rule.

So, while the Congress talked of political freedom, the Left began talking of economic equality and social justice.

Now the key question — why did the Leftist movement emerge at this particular time?
There were three main causes.

⚙️ Causes for the Growth of the Leftist Movement

(1) Industrial Development and the Rise of the Working Class

Industrialization in cities like Bombay (Mumbai), Calcutta (Kolkata), and Madras (Chennai) led to the creation of large working populations — factory workers, dock workers, textile laborers, etc.

Over time, these workers began organising themselves to demand:

Better wages
Shorter working hours
Improved working conditions

From these struggles emerged Trade Unions, which became the first platforms for Leftist political activity.

Thus, industrial capitalism created the social base for socialist and communist politics in India.

(2) Inspiration from the Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution of 1917

The Russian Revolution (1917) was a turning point in world history.
For the first time, workers and peasants had overthrown a monarchic empire (the Tsar) and established a socialist government under Lenin and the Bolsheviks.

To freedom fighters around the world, this was not just a political change — it was proof that the oppressed could win.

For Indians, living under British imperialism, this was electrifying.
It showed that an empire could indeed be defeated through organised revolution.
So, naturally, the Russian example deeply inspired Indian revolutionaries and socialists.

(3) The Third Communist International (Comintern)

After the Revolution, in 1919, the new Soviet government founded the Third Communist International, also called the Comintern.
Its aim was to unite communists across the world to spread revolutionary movements and establish workers’ governments in all countries.

Let’s quickly recall the timeline:

International	Period	Founder / Nature
First International	1864–1872	Founded by Karl Marx; united early socialist movements
Second International	1889–1914	Collapsed during World War I
Third International (Comintern)	1919–1943	Founded by Lenin; aimed to promote world communism

It was through this Comintern that Indian communists later established direct contact with Soviet leaders and global revolutionary movements.

Birth of the Communist Party of India (CPI)

The Communist Party of India (CPI) was founded outside India, in Tashkent (present-day Uzbekistan) in October 1920 by M.N. Roy (Manabendra Nath Roy), under the guidance of the Communist International.

👤 The Life and Journey of M.N. Roy

Let’s understand this fascinating man, because his story is truly global.

His original name was Narendranath Bhattacharya.
During World War I, he got involved in a revolutionary plot known as the Zimmerman Plan, which aimed to bring German arms into India for an armed revolt against the British.

When this failed, he fled India and travelled through several countries — Indonesia, Japan, USA, and eventually Mexico.
In America, he changed his name to Manabendra Nath Roy.

In Mexico, Roy met a Russian Communist emissary, Michael Borodin, became close friends with him, and was converted to Communism.
He even helped found the Communist Party of Mexico, making him one of the few Indians to establish a Communist party outside India!

From there, Roy went to Moscow at the personal invitation of Vladimir Lenin — the leader of the Russian Revolution.

🧩 The Famous M.N. Roy – Lenin Debate (1920)

At Moscow, Roy participated in the Second Congress of the Communist International (July–August 1920).
Here he engaged in an important debate with Lenin about how communists should operate in colonial countries like India.

Lenin’s View:
In colonies, communists should support nationalist movements, even if led by the bourgeoisie (middle class), because they were fighting imperialism.
First priority — defeat imperialism; class revolution could follow later.
M.N. Roy’s View:
Roy argued that bourgeois nationalists were reactionary — meaning they ultimately wanted to protect their own class interests.
Therefore, communists should organise independent parties of workers and peasants to fight both imperialism and capitalist oppression simultaneously.

After much discussion, the Comintern accepted a middle path:

Communists should support the nationalist bourgeoisie against imperialism,
But must maintain independence and build alliances between workers and peasants.

This became a foundational principle for communist strategy in colonial countries.

🏫 M.N. Roy in Tashkent: The Early CPI and the Military School

In October 1920, Roy reached Tashkent and established:

The Communist Party of India (CPI), and
A Military School to train Indians (especially frontier tribes) for an armed revolt against the British.

Among his recruits were several young Indian Muslims known as Muhajirs.

🕌 The Muhajirs and Their Journey to Communism

The term Muhajir means one who migrates for faith.
Between 1915 and 1920, hundreds of Muslim youths left India for Kabul (Afghanistan) to protest against British rule — they were angry because Britain had disrespected the Sultan of Turkey, who was the Caliph (the spiritual head of the Muslims).

Initially, these Muhajirs were Pan-Islamists, loyal to the Ottoman Caliphate.
But when they reached Tashkent, many came under the influence of M.N. Roy and his comrades and converted to communism.

They received military and ideological training — first at the Tashkent military school, and after it closed in 1921, at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East in Moscow.
There, they studied the ideas of Marx and Lenin deeply.

⚖️ The Peshawar Conspiracy Case (1922–23)

When these trained Muhajirs tried to return to India to organise revolts against the British, they were caught by colonial police.
They were tried in what became known as the Peshawar Bolshevik Conspiracy Case (1922–23).

Seven men were convicted for attempting to spread communism in India.
This trial was significant because it revealed to the world the existence of organised communist activity among Indians, even before 1925.

Some of those convicted continued to work for the communist cause in later years.

Early Communist Groups Inside and Outside India

While M.N. Roy’s activities were happening abroad, small communist groups also began forming within India itself during the 1920s.

(A) Outside India

Prominent revolutionaries like:

Virendranath Chattopadhyay, and
Bhupendra Nath Dutta (brother of Swami Vivekananda)
turned to Marxism while living in Europe.

(B) Inside India

After Gandhi suspended the Non-Cooperation Movement (1922), many disillusioned young activists turned towards communism.

(i) Bombay Group – Shripad Amrit Dange

Dange had earlier joined the Non-Cooperation Movement but later became a committed communist.
In 1921, he published “Gandhi vs. Lenin”, expressing his belief that Lenin’s socialism offered a more practical solution for India’s freedom.
In 1922, he launched India’s first socialist weekly, The Socialist.

(ii) Madras Group – Singaravelu Chettier

In May 1923, this senior lawyer founded the Labour Kisan Party — one of India’s first organised leftist parties.

(iii) Bengal Group – Muzaffar Ahmad and Kazi Nazrul Islam

In 1925–26, they started the Labour Swaraj Party, later renamed the Peasants’ and Workers’ Party.
It combined nationalist and socialist objectives, reflecting Bengal’s radical political culture.

The Kanpur Bolshevik (Cawnpore) Conspiracy Case, 1924

Before the Communist Party of India could formally take root inside India, the British Government struck hard to crush the new ideology.

What Happened?

In 1924, the government accused four prominent communist leaders —
Muzaffar Ahmad, S.A. Dange, Shaukat Usmani, and Nalini Gupta —
of establishing a branch of the Communist International (Comintern) in India.

They were charged with plotting to “deprive the British King-Emperor of the sovereignty of British India.”

The case came to be known as the Kanpur (Cawnpore) Bolshevik Conspiracy Case, because the trial took place in Cawnpore (modern Kanpur).

Why Was It Important?

This was not just a criminal case; it was a political spectacle.
The government wanted to brand communism as seditious and foreign-inspired, and to scare Indians away from it.

But ironically, the case backfired:
for the first time, the word “Communism” entered Indian public discourse.

During the trial, S.A. Dange boldly declared his right to preach socialism in India, reminding the court that socialism was legally discussed in Great Britain itself, so why should India — part of the same Empire — be denied this freedom?

Despite this powerful defence, all four were sentenced to four years’ rigorous imprisonment (May 1924).

However, this trial gave the communist movement unprecedented publicity and moral legitimacy.
It inspired a new generation of workers, students, and radicals who now saw communism as a serious, principled movement against British exploitation.

The Formal Birth of the Communist Party of India (CPI), 1925

Now, although M.N. Roy had founded the CPI earlier in Tashkent (1920), that party could not function effectively because:

Many members who tried to return to India were arrested, and
The British Government had banned all communist activity in India during the early 1920s.

Thus, by the mid-1920s, there was a need to reorganise the party from within India itself.

The Kanpur Conference (December 1925)

In December 1925, Satyabhakta, a socialist thinker, convened an All-India Conference of Communists at Kanpur (Cawnpore).
The conference was presided over by M. Singaravelu Chettier — the same leader who had earlier started the Labour Kisan Party in Madras.

Several communists attended — including Muzaffar Ahmad and Nalini Gupta, who had been released from jail after the Kanpur Conspiracy Case.

Outcome: Foundation of the Indian Communist Party

The conference brought together several scattered groups of socialists and communists from across India.
They decided to formally create a unified organisation — the Communist Party of India (CPI).
A Central Committee was set up with S.V. Ghate and J.P. Bergarhatta as Joint Secretaries.

Early Strategy

The CPI adopted a two-fold approach:

Its members were encouraged to join the Indian National Congress — not as rivals, but to create a strong left-wing within it.
They were urged to collaborate with radical nationalists, and to transform the Congress into a mass-based, pro-labour organisation.

This approach reflected a clear understanding:
Independence without social and economic justice would be incomplete.

Growth Through Front Organisations – The Workers’ and Peasants’ Parties (WPPs)

Even though the CPI was founded, direct communist activity remained banned in India.
So, to continue their work legally, communists began to form open, legal front organisations called Workers’ and Peasants’ Parties (WPPs).

These acted as bridges between nationalism and socialism, and served as the public face of the Left movement.

(A) Bengal – The Labour Swaraj Party (1925)

Founded in Calcutta (1 November 1925) by Muzaffar Ahmad, Hemanta Kumar Sarkar, and Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Initially named the Labour Swaraj Party of the Indian National Congress, it was renamed the Peasants’ and Workers’ Party in 1926.
This group represented the strong intellectual and labour activism tradition of Bengal.

(B) Bombay – The Congress Labour Party (1926)

In November 1926, a Congress Labour Party emerged within the Congress in Bombay Province.
In February 1927, it renamed itself the Workers’ and Peasants’ Party (WPP).
It was particularly active in trade union struggles and among textile workers.

(C) Punjab – The Kirti Kisan Party (1928)

Founded on 12 April 1928 at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, with the goal of mobilising peasants and workers.
Key leaders: Sohan Singh Josh and Bagh Singh — both linked with Bhagat Singh’s Naujawan Bharat Sabha.
The KKP reflected Punjab’s revolutionary socialist spirit.

(D) United Provinces (UP) – WPP (1929)

Established at a conference in Meerut (October 1929), presided over by Kedarnath Sehgal.
Attended by national communist leaders like Sohan Singh Josh, Philip Spratt, and Muzaffar Ahmad.
P.C. Joshi, who would later become CPI’s famous General Secretary, was chosen as the Secretary of this UP WPP.

(E) Madras – Labour Kisan Gazette

In South India, M. Singaravelu Chettier continued his socialist work through the journal Labour-Kisan Gazette, giving the southern movement a voice.

📰 Propaganda Through the Press

Each regional WPP also started its own newspapers and journals to spread socialist ideas:

Party	Publication	Language / Meaning
Bengal WPP	Langal (Plough) → later Ganavani	Bengali weekly
Bombay WPP	Kranti (Revolution)	Marathi weekly
Punjab WPP	Mehanatkash (Toiler)	Urdu weekly
UP WPP	Krantikari (Revolutionary)	Hindi weekly
Madras (Singaravelu)	Labour-Kisan Gazette	English/Tamil outlet

These journals gave voice to the struggles of workers, peasants, and the poor, while also linking their cause to the larger fight for national liberation.

🌍 The All-India WPP Conference, 1928 (Calcutta)

By 1928, Leftist activity had spread across provinces, so a national-level conference was organised in Calcutta (December 1928), under the presidentship of Sohan Singh Josh.

Three Major Decisions Taken:

Formation of a National Executive Committee
– To coordinate all the WPPs and unify their work under leading communists.
Emphasis on International Solidarity
– Recognised the global character of the communist movement.
– Declared the CPI’s support for international organisations like the Communist International (Comintern) and the League Against Imperialism.
Independent Communist Identity
– Decided that Indian communists must carry on their movement independently, instead of fully identifying with the “bourgeois leadership of the Congress.”

This showed the growing confidence of Indian communists, who were no longer content being just a wing within Congress — they wanted their own ideological and organisational identity.

🔺 Relationship Between WPPs and Communists

While communists were active members of the WPPs, the WPPs themselves were not purely communist fronts.
They were open, broad-based organisations that included:

Communists,
Left-leaning Congressmen, and
Trade union leaders.

So, WPPs performed a dual function:

Inside the Congress:
They radicalised Congress policies, urging it to represent the masses rather than elites.
Outside the Congress:
They organised workers and peasants into unions and mass movements, particularly influencing the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC).

🧱 Impact on the AITUC and Labour Politics

Initially, the AITUC (founded in 1920) was dominated by moderate trade unionists, who focused only on workers’ rights and avoided political involvement.

However, by 1927, under the growing influence of WPPs, the AITUC began to adopt a more political and nationalist stance.
This was a major achievement of the Left — they successfully linked labour struggles with the anti-imperialist struggle.

🇮🇳 Alliance of Nationalism and Socialism

The late 1920s witnessed an extraordinary development:
the merging of two great currents — Indian Nationalism and Socialist Radicalism.

The WPPs led many anti-Simon Commission demonstrations (1928–29).
For the first time, India’s working class and youth participated in national protests as a political force.
This gave the freedom struggle a mass base and a class dimension.

The symbolic peak of this alliance came in 1929, when Jawaharlal Nehru was elected President of both:

The Indian National Congress, and
The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC).

This dual presidency symbolised that India’s fight for political freedom and the fight for social-economic justice had now become two sides of the same coin.

Communists and Trade Union Growth — the Ground Realities

What changed on the ground?
Industrialisation and the emergence of concentrated labour in cities (textiles, railways, docks, municipal services) made trade unions the natural arena for left politics. The All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) became the central institutional platform for organised labour, and communists moved quickly to lead strikes and win workers’ confidence.

Key moments & outcomes

1927 Kharagpur railway strikes — Communists played a visible role among workshop and railway workers.
April–October 1928 Bombay textile strikes against wage cuts were massive; communists created the Girni Kamgar Union (GKU) (May 1928) and asserted strong influence over textile labour.
By late 1928, communist influence had penetrated unions across sectors — municipal, transport, rail, jute, docks, iron & steel — especially strong in Bombay and Bengal.

Why this mattered for the freedom struggle
Communist leadership in unions transformed strikes from purely economic disputes into politically significant actions. The working class now began to appear as a politically mobilised social force in the nationalist landscape.

Colonial Reaction — Legal Arms to Suppress Left Influence

As communist influence grew, the colonial state responded with new legislation intended to curtail strikes and deport political opponents.

Major legislative measures (1929):

Trade Disputes Act (11 April 1929)
- Created tribunals to settle labour grievances.
- Effectively curtailed strikes that the state claimed “coerced” government or caused public hardship.
Public Safety Bill / Ordinance (1929)
- Allowed deportation of “undesirable and subversive foreigners.”
- Gave the government sweeping powers to detain persons without trial (up to two years).
- When the Assembly rejected the bill, the Viceroy used an Ordinance (13 April 1929) to enforce similar powers.

Political fallout
These Acts were deeply unpopular among nationalists and workers, and became a focal point for protest — both parliamentary and extra-parliamentary.

Revolutionary Protest — Central Legislative Assembly Bombing (8 April 1929)

What happened?

To protest the Public Safety and Trade Disputes measures, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs into the Central Legislative Assembly gallery. Their intention was to “make the deaf hear” — create protest, not mass casualties; they courted arrest deliberately to use the trial for propaganda.

Why this links to the Left

The bombing embodied the radical edge of anti-colonial protest and highlighted the desperation and militancy in youth-led circles. It also pointed to the blurred boundary between revolutionary nationalism and socialist-revolutionary currents of the time.

Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929–1933) — The Colonial State Tightens the Net

What was it?

In March 1929 the government arrested 32 Communists, including three British organisers (Philip Spratt, B.F. Bradley, Lester Hutchinson), charging them with conspiring—under Comintern direction—to overthrow British sovereignty in India through strikes and uprisings. This became the Meerut Conspiracy Case.

Course and judgment

The trial lasted nearly four years; convictions and severe sentences were handed down in Jan 1933 by the Sessions Court.
Appeals reduced sentences and some acquittals followed in the Allahabad High Court.

Political and social significance

The trial was intended to decapitate the communist movement, but had the opposite effect in many ways:
- It nationalised the communist cause: courtroom speeches and documents were widely reported; people learned about communist ideas for the first time.
- Gandhi publicly denounced the trial as lawless; many nationalists criticised it.
- Instead of annihilating communism, the trial produced martyrs and heroes, strengthening the aura of sacrifice and commitment around communist activists.

Isolation of Communists from the Mainstream National Movement — Causes & Effects

International trigger: Comintern line (1928)

The Sixth Congress of the Comintern (1928) adopted an increasingly sectarian position and asked communists to take an uncompromising stand against other non-communist left currents.
In practice, this encouraged Indian Communists to distance themselves from the Congress, even its left wing (Nehru, Bose), calling the Congress a “bourgeois organisation.”

Domestic consequences

The Comintern’s directive to dissolve WPPs (Workers’ and Peasants’ Parties) as separate formations — to build a centralised Communist Party — weakened mass fronts. When communists withdrew, many WPPs disintegrated.
The combined effect of Meerut (repression), sectarian Comintern directives, and internal splits left the communists isolated at a crucial historical moment — when the national movement was building toward mass campaigns (Civil Disobedience, etc.).

State action

The colonial government exploited this isolation and, on 23 July 1934, banned the Communist Party of India.

Resilience and Reorientation: Communists after 1934–1935

Despite bans and repression, communist work continued—sometimes underground, sometimes inside other organisations.

Two turning points in 1935:

Reorganization under P.C. Joshi
- P.C. Joshi became the major organisational leader who restructured the party, emphasised mass work, and moved away from sectarian seclusion.
Seventh Comintern Congress (1935): The ‘U-turn’
- The Comintern now advocated the Popular Front / United Front strategy—alliances with bourgeois nationalist forces against fascism and imperialism.
- This global shift allowed Indian communists to re-enter mass anti-imperialist politics and work within the Congress framework.

Consequences

Communists were now instructed to join and influence the Congress and its provincial/district bodies.
By 1938 the CPI recognised the Congress as the central organisation of the anti-imperialist struggle.
Between 1936–1942, communists successfully built peasant movements (Kerala, Andhra, Bengal, Punjab) and re-established their image as consistent and militant anti-imperialists.

The Dutt–Bradley Thesis (1936) — Intellectual justification for a united front

R. P. Dutt and Ben Bradley argued in their document Anti-Imperialist People’s Front in India that:

The Congress already functioned as the united front of the Indian people against imperialism.
Therefore, communists should aim to work through the Congress to realise an anti-imperialist people’s front.

This thesis provided both a theoretical and practical basis for communists to abandon sectarian isolation and build alliances within the broader national movement.

Net Assessment — What this phase achieved and what it lost

Achievements

Communists linked labour and peasant struggles with national politics; they nationalised class grievances.
Trade unions and peasant organisations matured; confrontations like major strikes made politics mass-based.
Repression (Kanpur, Meerut) paradoxically disseminated left ideas more widely and created revolutionary prestige.

Costs

Sectarian international directives and internal splits caused temporary isolation, reducing influence in the late 1920s–early 1930s.
Bans and trials disrupted organisational continuity and drove many leaders underground or into other formations.

Rehabilitation

By the mid-to-late 1930s, under new leadership and a changed Comintern policy, communists re-emerged as an active mass force, particularly in peasant areas and trade unions.

Exam-Ready Summary & Points to Remember (UPSC focus)

Kanpur (Cawnpore) Bolshevik Conspiracy Case (1924) — public trial of Dange, Ahmad, Usmani, Gupta; sentenced; publicity for communism.
Trade Disputes Act (1929) — restricted strikes; tribunals set up.
Public Safety Bill / Ordinance (1929) — gave detention and deportation powers.
Central Assembly bombing (8 Apr 1929) — Bhagat Singh & B. K. Dutt’s protest against repressive legislation.
Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929–33) — 32 communists arrested and tried; created martyrs; spread communist ideas.
Comintern sectarian line (1928) — led to isolation; WPPs asked to dissolve.
CPI banned (23 July 1934) but continued underground and through fronts.
Reorientation (1935) — P.C. Joshi reorganises CPI; Comintern shifts to Popular Front; Dutt–Bradley thesis endorses united front with Congress.
Result — By late 1930s, CPI again engaged actively in peasant and trade union struggles and worked to influence Congress from within.

Concluding thought — Why this phase matters for understanding modern India

This decade (late 1920s–late 1930s) shows that anti-colonial politics in India was not monolithic. The freedom movement was a contest of strategies and ideologies—constitutionalism, Gandhian mass non-cooperation, revolutionary nationalism, and Marxist class politics. The communist experience demonstrates both the power of organised labour and peasantry to change political agendas, and the fragility of movements when international directives, state repression, and internal divisions intersect.

For an aspiring civil servant or historian, the lesson is double: political mobilisation requires organisational depth and ideological adaptability; repression can radicalise opinion but also drain organisational resources. The Left’s story in this phase is the story of learning and recalibration under pressure.