THE more than decade long struggle against revisionism reached a point of no return by the year 1964. On 11 April, 32 members of the National Council walked out of the Council meeting in protest against the attitude of the leadership, the way they were violating all communist norms and practices and taking down the Party in a revisionist line, in violation of all the accepted decisions. These 32 members issued a joint appeal to all the Party members on 14 April 1964. This statement laid the path for the emergence of a stronger Communist Party.

THE intervening period between the Fifth Congress and the Sixth Congress saw many momentous developments in the political life of the country and also within the Communist Party. Two biggest events that had dominated the Indian political scene after the Amritsar Congress, were the developments in Kerala and the deterioration of India-China relations. While the Party unitedly launched protests against the dismissal of the Communist government in Kerala throughout the country, the later gave rise to serious differences inside the Party.

THE Central Committee of the Communist Party adopted a resolution on the ‘Tasks Among the Peasant Masses’, in its meeting in April 1954. This resolution dealt with the questions related to “ceiling, ‘right of resumption’, rent reduction, tax burdens, economic price for the peasants’ produce, indebtedness, consolidation of holdings and prevention of fragmentation, cooperative societies, panchayats, irrigation facilities, demands of agricultural labourers and the problems of building and activising Kisan organisations”.

THE heroic struggle of the Punjab peasants against the betterment levy in 1959, added a glorious chapter to the history of the Indian peasant movement. After the epoch making struggle of Telangana, this was the biggest struggle fought in the post-independence period where the widest possible unity of the peasants was forged and the peasants were able to win the support of the agricultural workers and other sections of the population, irrespective of their political affiliations.

THE period from 1957 was one of gradually intensifying debate inside the Communist Party over fundamental ideological issues. However, the Party put aside all its ideological differences and rallied unitedly in the fight to defeat the Congress Party in the second general elections held in 1957. Though the Congress retained power at the centre and in all states, except Kerala, a massive change took place in the political landscape of the country.