Communist Party of India

The Communist Party of India was founded on 26 December 1925 at a conference in Kanpur, making it one of India's oldest political parties, though the rival CPI(M) traces the party's true founding to 17 October 1920 in Tashkent -- a point of continuing historical dispute between the two parties. The CPI played a leading role in numerous peasant, trade-union and independence-era movements. It suffered a major split in 1964 over ideological and strategic differences (particularly regarding the Sino-Soviet split and cooperation with the Congress), leading to the formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The undivided CPI today is recognised as a State Party in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Manipur, and remains a constituent of the left-of-centre I.N.D.I.A. alliance at the national level and the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, holding 2 Lok Sabha seats, 2 Rajya Sabha seats and 22 state assembly seats nationwide as of 2024.

The original undivided Communist Party of India, distinct from the CPI(M) which split away in 1964; contested 30 seats nationally in 2024 and won 2, polling 3,132,683 votes (0.49%); in Bihar it finished runner-up in Begusarai (Abdhesh Kumar Roy), a seat historically associated with the Bihar Left movement, as part of the Mahagathbandhan/INDIA bloc.

Publicly documented leadership positions only.