page_title: 1964 split in the Communist Party of India
section_title: Tripura
hierarchical_section_title: 1964 split in the Communist Party of India / Regional variations / The split in the state units / Tripura
caption_attribution_description: English: States and Union Territories of India, as of 1964-1965, i.e. between the creation of the state of Nagaland in 1963 and the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966. Map does not include territories claimed by India but controlled by other countries. Borders not necessarily to scale. Based on File:States_of_India_(1964).png
context_page_description: In 1964 a major split occurred in the Communist Party of India. The split was the culmination of decades of tensions and factional infighting. When India became independent in 1947, differences arose of how to adapt to the new situation. As relations between the Nehru government and the Soviet Union improved, a faction that sought cooperation with the dominant Indian National Congress emerged within CPI. This tendency was led by S.A. Dange, whose role in the party hierarchy became increasingly controversial. When the Sino-Indian War broke out in 1962 Dange's opponents within CPI were jailed, but when they were released they sought to challenge's his leadership. In 1964 the party was finally divided into two, with the left faction forming the Communist Party of India. The split had a lot of regional variations. It also impacted other organizations, such as trade union and peasant movements. The split has been studied extensively by scholars, who have sought to analyze the various domestic and international factors involved.
context_section_description: The split played out differently in Tripura than in the rest of India. By late 1962 almost the entire state level leadership had jailed. When the split in CPI occurred in 1964, practically the entire CPI Tripura State Council was lodged at the Hazaribagh Central Jail in Bihar. Party cadres in rural areas were generally unaware of the split in the rest of the country. When CPI leaders from Tripura were released from jail in mid-1964 they encountered that the national party had been divided. In the face of the split, the Tripura unit of the party resolved to remain united and neutral until a state level party convention could be held to discuss the future of the party.
  Whilst Tripura party leaders had agreed on neutrality, it was understood that Aghore Devbarma, Atikul Islam and Jhunu Das were close to the right CPI and Biren Dutta, Dasarath Deb, Bhanu Ghosh, Saroj Chanda, Kanu Sen, Benu Sen, Samar Chakraborty, Makhan Dutta and Debabrata Chakraborty were close to the left CPI. Nripen Chakraborty had reportedly stated that he was "internationally pro-Moscow and nationally anti-Dange".
  As agreed a convention of Tripura unit of the party was held in Kalyanpur (Khowai) in the last week of March 1965. At the onset of the convention there was a ruckus, as the leftists delegates protested against the delegate mandates of Benoy Debbbarma and Punjab Debbarma. Both Benoy and Punjab Debbarma would have had the right to delegate credential as they had been delegates to the last state conference, but the two had violated the agreement in the party unit by openly endorsing the Dange-led CPI in the run-up to the convention. In protest against the ruckus caused by the leftists, 13 delegates led by Aghore Debbarma and Jitendra Lal Das walked out of the convention in protest. Thus the party was finalized in Tripura; The group of the 13 delegates that walked out of the Kalyanpur convention would constitute the CPI state unit and the delegates that remained at the Kalyanpur convention would constitute the CPI(M) state unit.
  Most of the Tripura cadres joined CPI(M), as they followed Dasrath Deb, Biren Dutta and Nripen Chakraborty in the split. Notably, the main base of the party was tribal and Deb was the foremost leader of their community.
caption: Tripura
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