Letter to Readers (Spring 1965) (original) (raw)
Michael Kidron
(Spring 1965)
From International Socialism (1st series), No. 20, Spring 1965, p. 30.
Thanks to Ted Crawford & the late Will Fancy.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.
As a postscript to Nigel Harris’ articles on India in IS17 and IS18, we are reproducing the Communist Party of India (Muscovites) assessment of their strength compared with their rivals’ (in the Maoist faction). It is taken from the Organisation Report adopted at the seventh Congress last December and printed in New Age, 3 January 1965.
| STATEMENT SHOWING THE RELATIVE STRENGTH OF CPI AND THE RIVALS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 Membership | Strength in Assemblies | |||||||
| State | CPI | Rival Party | Undecided | New Recruits | Total | CPI | Rival Party | Undecided |
| Andhra | 22,094 | 11,774 | 1,008 | 7,206 | 55 | 31 | 23 | 1 |
| Assam | 2,100 | 461 | — | 1,000 | — | — | — | — |
| Bihar | 13,235 | 1,245 | — | 1,720 | 12 | 12 | — | — |
| Delhi | 1,123 | *100 | — | *100 | — | — | — | — |
| Gujarat | 431 | 187 | — | 139 | — | — | — | — |
| H. Pradesh | 200 | 70 | — | 121 | 1 | — | 1 | — |
| J & K | — | — | — | 38 | — | — | — | — |
| Karnatak | 964 | 300 | — | — | 3 | 1 | 2 | — |
| Kerala | 11,473 | *9,000 | 4,000 | 3,700 | 30 | 19 | 10 | 1 |
| Maharashtra | 7,398 | 500 | 700 | — | 5 | 4 | 1 | — |
| Goa | 56 | — | — | 62 | — | — | — | — |
| MP | 2,300 | — | — | 200 | 2 | 2 | — | — |
| Manipur | 825 | — | — | 200 | — | — | — | — |
| Orissa | 4,022 | 150 | 300 | — | 4 | 4 | — | — |
| Punjab | 7,124 | 2,200 | 200 | 400 | 8 | 6 | 2 | — |
| Rajasthan | 1,870 | 400 | — | — | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Tamilnad | 15,015 | 4,300 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 2 | 2 | — | — |
| Pondicherry | — | — | — | — | 4 | 4 | — | — |
| Tripura | — | — | 2,840 | — | 12 | — | — | 12 |
| UP | 9,917 | 1,700 | — | 5,000 | 14 | 12 | 2 | — |
| W. Bengal | 7,560 | 8,000 | ‡2,000 | 1,200 | 48 | 12 | 30 | †6 |
| PHQ | 55 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| TOTAL | 107,762 | 40,392 | 13,048 | 25,086 | 205 | 112 | 72 | 21 |
| Strength in Parliament | (Lok Sabha) | 32 | 16 | 11 | 5 | |||
| (Rajya Sabha) | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | ||||
| *Estimated figures ‡Centrists †Sitting in Rivals’ block |
A comparison of the membership figures with the more easily-checkable figures for representation in the Assemblies makes interesting reading.
Our contributors are Gerry Lynch, 24, who teaches Liberal Studies at a Polytechnic; Volkhard Mosler, a German student of Sociology, member of the German socialist students’ organisation (SDS) and one of their former International Secretaries; and Victor Serge, writer and revolutionary, about whom Peter Sedgwick has written at length in IS 14 (copies of which are still available).
Twenty issues are a long span in the life of a little journal, long enough for the editorial superstructure to turn into fetters on its further expansion. From the next issue, Nigel Harris, who has recently returned from an extended visit to India, Japan, China and all stations in between, will sit in the editorial chair. Readers can only benefit from the change.
Last updated on 18 February 2017