List of communist parties in India

This page contains a list of political parties in India that are aligned with the communist ideology.

1. Communist Party of India [Abbr. CPI] is the first and oldest communist party in India. Now it is a State Party in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Manipur.
2. Communist Party of India (Marxist) [Abbr. CPI(M)] is the largest communist party in terms of electoral performance. Now its is the only communist National Party in India.
3. Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation [Abbr. CPI(ML)L] is the third most largest communist party in India with state party status in Bihar.
4. Revolutionary Socialist Party [Abbr. RSP] is the fourth largest communist party in India with state party status in Kerala.
5. Unified Communist Centre of India [Abbr. UCCI] is the left communist party in India working among workers and proletariats and it's ideology is Marxist leninist Maoist and it was founded in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana under the leadership of Vikash and the monthly magazine of the Unified Communist Centre of India is Marxist Review.
6. Communist Party of India (Maoist) [Abbr. CPI(Maoist)] is the extreme left communist party in India and is banned by Government of India because of anti-national activities.

Communist Parties Registered with Election Commission of India

Communist Parties with National Party Status

A registered party is recognised as a national party only if it fulfils any one of the three conditions listed below:

1. The party wins 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states.
2. At a general election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in any four or more states and in addition it wins four Lok Sabha seats.
3. The party gets recognition as a state party in four states.

Election Symbol	Party Flag	Name	Ideology	Founded	Leader	State/UT governed	State/UT in Alliance partner in government	Seats in Lok Sabha	Seats in Rajya Sabha	Seats in State Assemblies	Seats in State Councils
		CPI(M)	Communism	7 November 1964 (1964-11-07)	Sitaram Yechury (General Secretary)	1/31	3 / 31	3 / 543	5 / 245	82 / 4,036	0 / 426

Communist Parties with State Party Status

A party has to fulfill any of the following conditions for recognition as a state party:

1. A party should secure at least 6% of valid votes polled in an election to the state legislative assembly and win at least 2 seats in that state assembly.
2. A party should secure at least 6% of valid votes polled in an election to Lok Sabha and win at least 1 seat in Lok Sabha.
3. A party should win minimum three percent of the total number of seats or a minimum of three seats in the Legislative Assembly, which ever is higher.
4. A party should win at least one seat in the Lok Sabha for every 25 seats or any fraction thereof allotted to that State.
5. Under the liberalised criteria, one more clause that it will be eligible for recognition as state party if it secures 8% or more of the total valid votes polled in the state.

Election Symbol	Party Flag	Name	Ideology	Founded	Leader	Recognised In	States/UT Governed		Seats in Lok Sabha	Seats in Rajya Sabha	Seats in State Assemblies	Seats in State Councils
							chief minister	Alliance partner
		CPI	Communism Marxism-Leninism	26 December 1925(98 years ago)	D. Raja	Kerala, Manipur , Tamil Nadu	0/31	4 / 31	2 / 543	2 / 245	22 / 4,036	1 / 426
		CPI(ML)L	Communism Marxism–Leninism Maoism	28 July 1974 (1974-07-28)	Dipankar Bhattacharya	Bihar	0/31	2 / 31	0 / 543	0 / 245	13 / 4,036	0 / 426
		RSP(I)	Communism Marxism–Leninism Revolutionary socialism	19 March 1940 (1940-03-19)	Manoj Bhattacharya	Kerala	0/31	0 / 31	1 / 543	0 / 245	0 / 4,036	0 / 426

Minor Communist Parties

In Kerala

1. Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi (JSS)
2. Communist Marxist Party (CMP)
3. Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI)
4. Revolutionary Socialist Party (Leninist) RSP(L)

Pro-armed struggle Communist Parties

Extremist Pro-Naxal/ Maoist Communist Parties

• CPI(Maoist) led by Muppala Lakshmana Rao
• RCCI(Marxist-Leninist-Maoist)
• Communist Party of United States of India led by Veeranna
• CPI(ML) Janashakti - Koora Rajanna led by Koora Rajanna
• CPI(ML) Janashakti - Ranadheer led by Ranadheer
• CPI(ML) Janashakti - Chandra Pulla Reddy led by Chandra Pulla Reddy
• CPI(ML) (Mahadev Mukherjee) led by Mahadev Mukherjee
• CPI(ML) Central Team
• Communist Party Reorganisation Centre of India (Marxist-Leninist)
• Communist League of India (Marxist-Leninist) Ramnath
• Communist League of India (Marxist-Leninist) Parikalpana
• Communist League of India (Marxist-Leninist) Revisionist
• Re-organizing Committee, Communist League of India (Marxist-Leninist)

Defunct Communist Parties

Logo	Name	Abbr.	Leaders	Foundation Year	Dissolution Year	Ideology	Notes
	All India Communist Party	AICP	Shripad Amrit Dange	1980	1987	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Merged into United Communist Party of India
	Andhra Pradesh Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (Chandra Pulla Reddy)	APCCR (Chandra Pulla Reddy)	Chandra Pulla Reddy	1971	1975	Communism Marxism-Leninism	In 1975 APCCR (Chandra Pulla Reddy) merged into the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
	Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries	APCCCR	T. Nagi Reddy	1968	1975	Communism Marxism-Leninism Maoism	In 1975 APCCCR formed Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist-Leninist) together with Northern Zone Committee Revolutionary Communist Unity Centre (Marxist-Leninist), West Bengal Communist Unity Centre and West Bengal Co-ordination Committee of Revolutionaries (WBCCR).
	Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma	BLPI	Leslie Goonewardene	1942	1947	Communism Leninism Trotskyism	Succeeded by Bolshevik Samasamaja Party
	Central Organising Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)	COC, CPI(ML)	Jagjit Singh Sohal ("Sharma")	1974	~1982	Marxism-Leninism	In 1980 Kondapalli Seetharamaiah merged his faction to create the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War In 1977 a faction led by Ram Nath, broke away and formed the Communist League of India (Marxist-Leninist) In 1982 M. Appalasuri's COC, CPI(ML) faction merged with Bhowani Roy Chowdhury's West Bengal-based CPI(ML) Unity Organisation, forming the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Party Unity
	Central Organising Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (Umadhar Singh)	COC, CPI(ML) (Umdhar Singh)	Umadhar Singh	~1980	1985	Marxism-Leninism	Merged into the Communist Organisation of India (Marxist–Leninist)
	Central Organising Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Party Unity	CPI(ML) Party Unity	Narayan Sanyal alias Naveen Prasad	1982	1998	Communism Marxism-Leninism Maoism	On 11 August 1998 COC, CPI(ML) Party Unity merged with Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War
	Central Organising Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Shantipal	COC, CPI(ML) Shanti Pal	Shanti Pal (first) Mankhushi Jha (last)	~1970	~2006	Communism Marxism-Leninism Maoism	As of 2006 the leader of Shanti Pal group in Madhepura was in jail, sentenced for the killing of a mukhya.
	Central Reorganisation Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)	CRC, CPI(ML)	K. Venu	1979	1991	Communism Marxism-Leninism Maoism	In October 1991 CRC, CPI(ML) was dissolved. K. Venu renounced Maoism and declared an All India communist party as an impossibility
	Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India	CCRI		1988	1994	Communism Marxism-Leninism	In August 1994 CCRI merged with the Punjab section of CPI(ML) Central Team, Communist Unity Centre of India and Marxist-Leninist Organising Centre to form the Communist Party Reorganisation Centre of India (Marxist-Leninist)
	Centre of Indian Communists	CIC		1974	1977	Communism Marxism-Leninism Maoism	During the Emergency prohibition of several resistance groups was enforced.
	Communist Consolidation		Hare Krishna Konar	1935	1947	Indian nationalism Communism Marxism–Leninism	Dissolved after India achieved freedom
	Communist League		N. C. Sekhar	1931	1937	Communism	The Party merged with Communist Party of India in 1937
	Communist League of India (Marxist–Leninist)	CLI (ML)	Ram Nath (first)	1978	~2019	Communism Marxism-Leninism Maoism	Over the years this party got divided into numerous different factions
	Communist Marxist Party	CMP	C. P. John	1986	2014	Communism Marxism	In March 2014, the party split into two factions. CMP(A) led by K. R. Aravindakshan & CMP(J) led by C. P. John
	Communist Organisation of India (Marxist–Leninist)	COI (ML)	Kanu Sanyal	1985	2003	Communism Marxism-Leninism	In 2003 COI (ML) merged with Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Unity Initiative to form Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (Kanu Sanyal)
	Communist Party of French India		V. Subbiah	1940	1954	Communism	Dissolved after the liberation of Pondicherry
	Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Bolshevik	CPI (ML) (Bolshevik)	Jayshree Rana	1977		Communism Marxism–Leninism
	Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Central Team	CPI(ML) Central Team		1977	1994	Communism Marxism–Leninism Anti-revisionism	In 1994 the Punjab branch of CPI(ML) Central Team unified with Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India, Communist Unity Centre of India and Marxist–Leninist Organising Centre to form the Communist Party Reorganization Centre of India (Marxist–Leninist)
	Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) New Initiative	CPI (ML) New Initiative	Arvind Sinha			Communism Marxism–Leninism	It merged with CPI (ML) Janashakti COC to form CPI (ML) Unity Initiative
	Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Unity Initiative	CPI (ML) Unity Initiative	Viswam		2003	Communism Marxism–Leninism	In 2003, the party merged with the Communist Organisation of India (Marxist-Leninist) (led by Kanu Sanyal), forming a new Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Kanu Sanyal).
	Communist Party of Indian Union (Marxist–Leninist)	CPIU (ML)			2003	Communism Marxism–Leninism	In August 2003 discussions took place between Kanu Sanyal and Arvind Sinha from CPI (ML) and Subodh Mitra and S.D. Bose about a possible merger between CPIU (ML) and CPI (ML). The conference of CPIU (ML) in Samastipur 18 November 2003 confirmed the merger plans, and CPIU (ML) joined the CPI (ML) of Sanyal.
	Communist Revolutionary Party					Communism
	Communist Workers Party (India)	CWP	Jyotibhushan Bhattacharya	1976		Communism
	Comrades Association					Communism
	Forward Communist Party	FCP	K.N. Joglekar	1948	1952	Communism	In 1952 FCP disintegrated into two separate parties, Forward Communist Party (Joglekar) and Forward Communist Party (Anandi Mukherji). The same year, FCP(J) merged with the Communist Party of India and FCP(AM) merged with Bolshevik Party of India.
	Forward Communist Party (Anandi Mukherji)	FCP (AM)	Anandi Mukherji	1952	1952	Communism	In 1952 FCP disintegrated into two separate parties, Forward Communist Party (Joglekar) and Forward Communist Party (Anandi Mukherji). The same year, FCP(J) merged with the Communist Party of India and FCP(AM) merged with Bolshevik Party of India.
	Forward Communist Party (Joglekar)	FCP (J)	K.N. Joglekar	1952	1952	Communism	In 1952 FCP disintegrated into two separate parties, Forward Communist Party (Joglekar) and Forward Communist Party (Anandi Mukherji). The same year, FCP(J) merged with the Communist Party of India and FCP(AM) merged with Bolshevik Party of India.
	Indian Communist Party	ICP	U. Krishnappa		1985	Communism Marxism	In May 1985 ICP merged into the Communist Organisation of India (Marxist-Leninist).
	Indian Communist Party (Sen)	ICP	Mohit Sen		1988	Communism Marxism	In 1988, Indian Communist Party merged with the All India Communist Party to become United Communist Party of India.
	Indian People's Front	IPF	Nagbhushan Patnaik Dipankar Bhattacharya	1982	1994	Communism	IPF was operated as the open mass front of the CPIML Liberation. In December 1992, the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation held its fifth congress in Kolkata. Following which the party came out of the underground and eventually disbanded the Indian People's Front in 1994. From 1995 onward the party began contesting elections on its own, substituting the role of the former front.
	Inquilabi Communist Sangathan	ICS	Achin Vanaik, Magan Desai, Thakore Shah, Amar Jesani, Vibhuti Patel, Somendra Kumar, Jagabandhu Chattopadhyay and Kunal Chattopadhyay	1984	2004	Communism Trotskyism	Their last public activity was a hostile intervention into the World Social Forum of Mumbai 2004. West Bengal-based Trotskyists who had left ICS in 2003 regrouped in 2008 to form Radical Socialist.
	Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan	LKPH	Singaravelu Chettiar	1923	1925	Communism Socialism	Singaravelu announced the dissolution of the party at the 1925 Kanpur conference of the Communist Party of India.
	Lal Communist Party Hind Union		Teja Singh Swatantra	1948	1952	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Merger talks between the CPI Punjab unit and the Lal Communist Party began in 1951. The Lal Communist Party approached the CPI to discuss reunification, albeit Teja Singh Swatantra opposed the idea. The CPI leadership responded positively. A party meeting was held at Dalel Singh Wala, which unanimously decided to dissolve the Lal Communist Party and unconditionally join CPI. The merger of the two parties was completed in July 1952.
	Lal Jhanda Dal		Swadesh Mitra			Communism Maoism
	Lal Nishan Party	LNP		1965	2018	Communism Marxism–Leninism	In 2017 August, LNP merger with the Communist Party of India was discussed.
	League Against Gandhism/Gandhi Boycott Committee			1934		Communism Anti-Gandhism
	Liberation Front (Sabuj Sen)		Sabuj Sen		1985	Communism Marxism–Leninism Naxalism	The party later merged with Communist Organisation of India (Marxist-Leninist).
	Marxist Communist Party of India	MCPI	Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri	1983	2005	Communism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism	In 2005 by the unification of the Marxist Communist Party of India, the Mangat Ram Pasla-led breakaway group from the CPI(M) in Punjab - Communist Party Marxist (Punjab), the BTR-EMS-AKG Janakeeya Vedi (a Kerala-based splinter group of the CPI(M), which had been based in the CITU) and the Hardan Roy group in West Bengal and formed Marxist Communist Party of India (United). In 2005 MCPI merged with other splinter groups to form the Marxist Communist Party of India (United)
	Marxist League (India)			1933	1934	Communism Marxism
	Marxist League of Kerala					Communism Marxism Trotskyism

• Marxist Communist Party of India
• Marxist League (India)
• Marxist League of Kerala
• National Democratic Front of Boroland
• National Revolutionary Socialist Party
• Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Naxalbari
• Organising Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)
• Pakistan Communist Party
• Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War
• Punjab Communist Revolutionary Committee
• Real Communist Party of India
• Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Red Flag
• Revolutionary Communist Centre of India (Maoist)
• Revolutionary Communist Centre of India (Marxist–Leninist)
• Revolutionary Communist Council of India
• Revolutionary Communist Party (India)
• Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Das)
• Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Tagore)
• Revolutionary Communist Unity Centre (Marxist–Leninist)
• Revolutionary Marxist Party
• Revolutionary Socialist Party (Leninist)
• Revolutionary Socialist Party (Sreekandan Nair)
• Revolutionary Socialist Party of India (Marxist)
• Revolutionary Workers Party (India)
• Samyavadi Sangstha
• Socialist Party (Marxist)
• Socialist Workers Party (India)
• Tamil Nadu Communist Party
• Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist–Leninist)
• Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist–Leninist) (Ajmer group)
• Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist–Leninist) (Anand)
• Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist–Leninist) (Harbhajan Sohi)
• Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist–Leninist) Subodh Mitra
• Uttar Pradesh Revolutionary Socialist Party
• Workers and Peasants Party (India)
• Workers Revolutionary Party (India)
• Organising Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)

Defunct Naxal-Maoist Communist Parties

Logo	Name	Abbr./A.k.a	Leaders	Foundation Year	Dissolution Year	Ideology	Notes
	All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries	AICCCR	Charu Majumdar; Kanu Sanyal	1967	1969	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Existed in 1967-1969: Originally a group within the CPI (Marxist). AICCCR was the predecessor to the original CPI (M-L)
	Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)	CPI (ML)	Charu Majumdar	1969	1972	Communism Marxism–Leninism Mao Zedong Thought	This is the original CPI (ML) which was founded on April 22, 1969. Led by Charu Mazumdar until his death in 1972. Splintered into many separate organizations.
	Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War			1980	2004	Communism Marxism–Leninism Mao Zedong Thought
	Maoist Communist Centre	MCC		1975	2004	Communism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism

Separatist Communist Parties

Active Communist Parties

Manipur

Party Flag	Name	Abbr.	Ideology	Founded	Leader	Notes
	People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak	PRPK	Communism Separatism	9 November 1977 (1977-11-09)
	People's Liberation Army of Manipur	PLAM	Communism Mao Zedong Thought Separatism	25 September 1979 (1979-09-25)
	Kangleipak Communist Party	KCP	Communism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism	14 April 1980 (1980-04-14)	Ibungo Ngangom	The KCP has now been divided into numerous factions.
	Maoist Communist Party of Manipur	MCPM	Communism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Separatism	September 2011 (2011-09)	Chiranglen Sapamcha

Greater Nepal

Party Flag	Name	Abbr.	Ideology	Founded	Leader	Notes
	Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj	ABNES	Maoism Nepalese unity in India	1979 (1979)	Bhot Bahadur thapa hemraj Singh gaman khtri

Defunct Communist Parties

Bodoland

Logo	Name	Abbr.	Leaders	Foundation Year	Dissolution Year	Ideology	Notes
	National Democratic Front of Boroland	NDFB	B. Saoraigwra G. Bidai B.R. Ferrenga	1986	2020	Ethnic nationalism Marxism Socialism Democracy Separatism	The NDFB signed a peace treaty with the government in 2020 and disbanded itself.

See also

• Socialism in India
• Communism in India
• Communism in Kerala
• Naxalite
• List of political parties in India
• Politics of India
• List of Naxalite and Maoist groups in India