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Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)

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Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)
General SecretaryProvash Ghosh
FounderShibdas Ghosh
Nihar Mukherjee
Founded24 April 1948
Split fromRevolutionary Socialist Party
Headquarters48 Lenin Sarani
Kolkata, India
700013
22°33′49.9″N 88°21′20.1″E / 22.563861°N 88.355583°E / 22.563861; 88.355583
NewspaperProletarian Era (English)
Ganadabi (Bengali)
Unity (Malayalam)
Student wingAll India Democratic Students Organisation
Youth wingAll India Democratic Youth Organisation
Women's wingAll India Mahila Sanskritik Sanghathan
Labour wingAll India United Trade Union Centre
Peasant's wingAll India Krishak Khet Majdoor Sangathan
Ideology
Political positionSyncretic
ECI StatusRegistered - Unrecognized
Website
www.sucicommunist.org

The Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), previously known as Socialist Unity Centre of India and originally known as Socialist Unity Centre is an anti-capitalist and social conservative political party in India. The party was founded by Shibdas Ghosh and Nihar Mukherjee in 1948.

Ideology

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SUCI(C) is a social conservative political party which follows an ideological line formulated by Shibdas Ghosh. SUCI(C) holds that India is a capitalist country with monopoly capitalism and imperialist trends. In line with that analysis, the party claims to work towards a socialist revolution.[1]

The SUCI(C) leadership apparently emphasizes the qualitative upliftment of party cadres, workers of mass-organisations and supporters, by both theoretical study of thought of Shibdas Ghosh and the practical application of such knowledge in the day-to-day life of party workers. SUCI(C) claims to uphold the proletarian cultural standard that should be achieved by the cadres, before they can lead the masses in the Socialist Revolution.

History

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Formation

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Shibdas Ghosh, Founder General Secretary of SUCI

Centring some ideological tensions and debates, about thirty members of Revolutionary Socialist Party were ousted from RSP and this faction along with the group led by a former associate of M. N. Roy — Sudhindra Pramanik, one group led by Nepal Bhattacharjee, founder of Workers and Peasants League and a faction led by Biren Bhattarcharjee claimed to form a propagandist Platform of Action (POA) as Socialist Unity Centre on 1 May 1946 with Shibdas Ghosh and Makhan Chatterjee as joint convenors. 24 Pargana district committee led by Subodh Banerjee also joined the faction. But detailed analysis says that Platform of Action was most likely formed after Independence of India. The leaders of the organisations and groups of the POA couldn't arrive ideological coherency and then the faction led by Shibdas Ghosh and Nihar Mukherjee gave rise to a political party named Socialist Unity Centre on 24 April 1948.[2]

An 11-member central committee was formed consisting of Shibdas Ghosh, Subodh Banerjee, Nihar Mukherjee, Sachin Banerjee, Pritish Chanda, Hiren Sarkar, Rathin Sen, Promod Singha Roy, Monoranjan Banerjee, Radheshyam Saha and Tribeni Bardhan with Shibdas Ghosh as the General Secretary. Although SUCI (C) claims at present that Hiren Sarkar was one of the members of the first central committee, the party’s old documents do not substantiate this. It is speculated that Hiren Sarkar was included in the central committee sometimes after 1954.[2]

Early years (1948-70)

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The party took part in different protests against tram fare rise, proposed merger of Bihar and West Bengal and joined Food Movement of 1959-66.[3]

Even though SUCI considers elections as bourgeois tactics, it took part in parliamentary elections from its inception.

SUCI formed United Left Front of 1957 ahead of the 1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election. The other constituents of the front were Bolshevik Party of India, the Democratic Vanguard in India and the Republican Party of India.[4] But SUC and its allies lost in all the contested seats.

During the prevailing food crisis in West Bengal, SUC joined United Left Front of 1962 led by Communist Party of India.[4][5] Despite contesting 11 seats as part of ULF–1962 in 1962 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, SUC was defeated in all seats and merely got 69,844 votes.

In 1967 Indian general election, Chitta Roy of SUC won from Jaynagar Lok Sabha constituency as an independent candidate.[6][7] In 1967 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, SUC as part of Communist Party of India (Marxist) led ULF–1967 and won 4 seats.[4] The front merged with People's United Left Front to form United Front which formed the first non-Congress government in the state.

SUCI was given the Labour Ministry in the United Front government and Subodh Banerjee became Labour Minister who introduced Gherao principle. United Front issued circular stating that police would not be able to interfere in gheraos (besieging blockades) unless having the permission of the Ministry of Labour.[8][9][10] This led to closing down of many industrial units. Kolkata High Court nullified this principle twice.

SUCI won 7 seats and got 1.53% votes 1969 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election being part of United Front. Subodh Banerjee was now made the Minister of Department of Public Works and Protiva Mukherjee was made Minister of State for Roads and Road Development.[11]

When Ajoy Mukherjee presented his resignation on 16 March 1970,[12] Jyoti Basu met Governor Santiswarup Dhawan and he requested that the CPI(M), being the largest party, be allowed to form the government. But SUCI along with Congress, Bangla Congress, CPI and Forward Bloc met him and advised him not to give CPI(M) that opportunity and the Governor recommended President’s rule leading to the fall of the second United Front government.[13]

Later years (1971-2006)

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Before 1971 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, SUCI joined United Left Democratic Front led by CPI.[14][15][16] The front failed to reach a seat-sharing agreement with the Bangla Congress, but managed to agree to some seat-sharings with the Congress (R).[15] SUCI won 7 seats in the election.

SUCI, in 1972 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, won one Vidhan Sabha seat. It was a part of CPI(M) led alliance in the election.[17]

SUCI won 4 seats in 1977 and won 2 seats — Jaynagar and Kultali in 1982 also and held those two seats till 2006.

The party also represented Jashipur Assembly constituency of Odisha three times in 1985-90, 1995-2000 and 2004-09. Nalini Ranjan Singh of SUCI won Kanti Assembly constituency from 1980-90. In 1990, he won in Janata Dal ticket.

One of the major campaigns of the party in West Bengal has been its agitations against the Left Front government.

SUCI protested against bus fare hike in 1983 and called for Bangla Bandh (Bengal Strike) in 31 August 1990[3] and organised protest against electricity price rise in 1991 and in 2002.[3]

Following the decision of the Left Front government to remove the English language from primary education to decrease school drop-out ratio, the SUCI protested for the reinstatement of English.[18][19][20] It called for Bangla Bandh on 3 February 1998 in the demand for bringing back English at the primary education.[3] In the year 2000, the SUCI organised a protest demanding English as a compulsory subject at primary education.[3]

Singur-Nandigram movement and alliance with Trinamool Congress

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SUCI joined the anti-industrial movements in Singur against the SEZ for the Tata Group's car factory[21][22][23] and Nandigram against the SEZ for the Salim Group's chemical hub.[24][25][26][27][28]

SUCI which was gradually diminishing from the political arena of West Bengal, allied with Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee in 2008.[29] Provash Ghosh, the-then West Bengal State Secretary of SUCI, termed Banerjee as 'very pro-people' and 'pro-struggle'.

On 21 April 2008, TMC led anti-Left Front Progressive Secular Democratic Alliance including SUCI called for statewide 12 hour strike.[30][31]

SUCI contested 2008 West Bengal Panchayat elections, 2009 Indian general election and 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election as part of TMC led alliance. Indian National Congress and other parties were also part of the formation.

In 2009, SUCI was given one Lok Sabha seat to contest under United Progressive Alliance. But it also fielded nine more candidates against Congress. It was speculated that SUCI's move will help Congress by splitting left votes. [32]

In 2011, the alliance also had tacit support of Communist Party of India (Maoist) and Bharatiya Janata Party. SUCI initially demanded 17 seats, but with negotiations with TMC, it agreed for 14 seats. But TMC finally decided to leave 2 seats for SUCI. This led to a rift between the two parties and as a result, SUCI announced 29 more candidates against Congress whereas Congress fielded candidates in 66 seats.[33][34] SUCI won only Jaynagar Assembly constituency and lost Kultali to CPI(M) and forfeited deposits on rest 28 seats.

Nihar Mukherjee Memorial Meeting held in Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on 3 March 2010

After SUC's disastrous results in 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Provash Ghosh said in a press statement that SUC's main aim was to dislodge the CPI(M) government of 34-year span by forming alliance with TMC and his party was ready to sit in opposition after the fall of the Left Front government.

Recent situation

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During its peak times, the stronghold of the party was in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, in areas such as Jaynagar Majilpur where it once controlled certain municipalities. But it is now almost organisationally and electorally decimated in those areas.

SUCI mural in Kolkata, announcing 'SUCI day' rally on 24 April

Since Tarun Mandal lost in Jaynagar Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 and Tarun Kanti Naskar lost in Jaynagar Assembly constituency in 2016, the party has no representative in any state assembly across the country or in Parliament.

Under the leadership of Prakash Karat and Biman Bose, SUCI(C) and five left parties CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML)L, AIFB and RSP came to common understanding in 2014 to forge larger left unity in order to strengthen mass movements following Bharatiya Janata Party's ascend to the Central Government in 2014 Indian general election.[35] But SUCI joined took part in some selective programmes among the ones organised by the platform. SUCI current General Secretary Provash Ghosh also mocked smaller constituents of Left Front calling them 'rubber stamp of CPM'.[36] SUCI, before 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, left the platform and had seat-sharing talks with CPI(ML)L.[37] Finally SUCI contested 182 seats and got zero seat and 0.67% votes losing deposits in 180 seats.[38]

On 5 August 2023, SUCI(C) organised a rally in Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata after 35 years of its first such rally in 1988. SUCI was actively aided by the right-wing ruling party of West Bengal Trinamool Congress for organising the rally.[39][40]

SUCI(C) fielded 150 candidates across various states and UTs in 2024 Indian general election and got only 4,80,987 votes, forfeiting deposits in every seat.

SUCI which once allied with centrist party like Congress and right-wing party like TMC to defeat the left-wing CPI(M) and Left Front, now doesn't want to come to an understanding with Congress to defeat Trinamool Congress in 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election.[41]

Party Congresses and leadership

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Party Congresses

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Party Congresses of SUCI aren't held regularly like CPI(M), CPI and other left-wing parties.

The 1st SUCI Party Congress was held in Kolkata in 1988, forty years after its formation. In this conference, the constitution of the party was adopted.

The 2nd Party Congress was held from 11 to 17 November 2009 in Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi.[42][43][44] The word 'communist' was added to the party's name at the second party congress.[45]

The third Party Congress was organised in 2018.

General Secretaries

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In SUCI, the General Secretary customarily holds office ad mortem.

List of General Secretaries
S. No. Term Portrait Name State References
1 1948-1976 Shibdas Ghosh West Bengal
Shibdas Ghosh was the founding General Secretary of SUCI.
2 1976-2010 Nihar Mukherjee West Bengal
Nihar Mukherjee became general secretary after death of Shibdas Ghosh.
3 2010- Provash Ghosh West Bengal [46]
Provash Ghosh is the current leader of the party. He was elected as the General Secretary of the party by the Central Committee on 4 March 2010 following death of Nihar Mukherjee.

Mass organisations

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The principal mass organisations of SUCI(C) are:

Publications

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The central organ of SUCI(C) is the Proletarian Era, an English forthnighly published from Kolkata.

The publications of various state committes are listed below:

Name of Organ Language Place of Publication
Ganadabi Bengali Kolkata
Unity Malayalam Thiruvananthapuram
Ganamukti Assamese Guwahati
Karmika Drushtikona Kannada Bangalore
Pattali Chinthanai Tamil Chennai
Sarbahara Kranti Oriya Bhubaneswar
Sarvahara Dristhikon Hindi Delhi
Socialist Viplavam Telugu Hyderabad
Morcha Urdu Kolkata

Criticism

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They are often criticized by the other Left parties for supporting semi-fascistic and virulently anti-communist party like TMC, to defeat the Left Front Government.

SUC is also criticised by CPI(M) as it prioritizes weakening the left democratic movement by criticising left-wing parties instead of right-wing parties like BJP and TMC in various rallies.[47]

The party has also questionable stances on social issues, calling homosexuality a sign of "mental deformity and morbidity" and it supports inhuman activities in the name of "stringent punishment like life-term" of homosexual people.[48] The party which highly talks about progressive culture, is in staunch opposition to the introduction of sex education in schools.[49]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "SUCI critique on Naxal movement — cgnet.in". 11 July 2009. Archived from the original on 11 July 2009.
  2. ^ a b Deb, Bikash Ranjan (2022). "From National Revolutionism to Marxism: A Politico-historical Narrative of Origins of Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI)". Indian Historical Review. 49 (2): 309–325. doi:10.1177/03769836221136271.
  3. ^ a b c d e "How much do you know about SUCI? | undefined News - Times of India". The Times of India. 10 January 2002.
  4. ^ a b c M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 216.
  5. ^ Dasgupta, Salien. Left Unity
  6. ^ "Key Highlights of General Elections, 1967 to The Fourth Lok Sabha" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2009.
  7. ^ "At Joynagar, SUCI banks on a doctor". 21 March 2009.
  8. ^ Dasgupta, Surajit Kumar; Dāśagupta, Surajit̲a (18 April 1992). West Bengal's Jyoti Basu: A Political Profile. Gian Publishing House. ISBN 9788121204200 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ "A Defiant Rebel - Mainstream". www.mainstreamweekly.net.
  10. ^ "Populist Governance". Archived from the original on 18 April 2009.
  11. ^ "The Second United Front". Archived from the original on 12 October 2008.
  12. ^ Sitanshu Das (1970). The future for Indian democracy. Fabian Society. p. 30. ISBN 9780716312857.
  13. ^ "The Second United Front". Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. On March 16, Ajoy-babu resigned. In protest, the BPTUC and the July 12 Committee led many democratic and peoples' organisations to a successful general strike the very next day. I met the Governor and requested him to allow the CPI(M), as the single largest party, to form the government on its own and that we would give proof of our strength on the floor of the Assembly. On the other hand, the Congress, Bangla Congress, CPI, Forward Bloc and SUCI met him and advised him not to give us that opportunity.
  14. ^ Political Science Review. Vol. 18–19. Department of Political Science, University of Rajasthan. 1979. p. 31.
  15. ^ a b Sudhir Ray (1 November 2007). Marxist parties of West Bengal in opposition and in government, 1947-2001. Progressive Publishers. p. 77, 160. ISBN 978-81-8064-135-0.
  16. ^ Subimal Kumar Mukherjee; Indian Council of Social Science Research (1975). Elections to the Howrah Parliamentary Constituency, 1971, with Reference to Three Assembly Constituencies Thereunder. World Press. p. 39.
  17. ^ Prabhat Kumar Palit (1983). The Congress (O) in West Bengal Politics: Role Performance and Role Perception. B.B. Company, Publication Division. pp. 77–78.
  18. ^ "Millions Rise Up For Total Bangla Bandh (total General Strike)". Archived from the original on 18 July 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  19. ^ "Bandh call banks on past success". Archived from the original on 2 September 2013.
  20. ^ Twist of the mother tongue
  21. ^ "Singur issue triggers protests in Howrah - Times Of India". The Times of India. 20 October 2012. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012.
  22. ^ "Singur has turned violent thanks to brutal and anti-people stance of ironic communist government of West Bengal". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  23. ^ "Singur: Medha Patkar visits dead girl's family". Rediff.
  24. ^ "Mamata resigns from LS : 11th nov07 ~ E-Pao! Headlines". www.e-pao.net.
  25. ^ Extend support to Nandigram people: SUCI
  26. ^ SUCI Protests against repression in Nandigram
  27. ^ "Nandigram turns blood red". The Economic Times. 15 March 2007.
  28. ^ Cancel SEZs in Bengal, Buddha urged[permanent dead link]
  29. ^ Trinamool Congress to tie up with SUCI
  30. ^ "TC, SUCI jointly call 12-hour 'Bangla Bandh'". 4 April 2008.
  31. ^ "12-hour shutdown against price rise in West Bengal". The Economic Times. 21 April 2008.
  32. ^ https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/suci-surprise-for-partner-cong-mamata-to-step-in-after-ally-fields-more-candidates/cid/497605
  33. ^ "Jolt to Trinamool as SUCI decides to field 17 ca". 3 May 2012.
  34. ^ https://old.eci.gov.in/files/file/3195-west-bengal-2011/
  35. ^ "একদা ব্রাত্যরাও বাম শিবিরে এখন সুজন".
  36. ^ https://www.anandabazar.com/west-bengal/suci-scorns-political-agenda-of-left-front-and-their-17-parties-1.217101
  37. ^ "Left-Congress alliance for polls drives SUCI, naxalite faction to join hands in fight against Marxists - the Economic Times".
  38. ^ "West Bengal General Legislative Election 2016".
  39. ^ "এসইউসি-র ব্রিগেডে ঢালাও সাহায্য তৃণমূলের, কোন অঙ্কে এক 'অন্য' লাল পার্টির 'পাশে' জোড়াফুল?".
  40. ^ "ব্রিগেডে Suci সমাবেশে সহায়তা করল শাসক দল? কারণ কী".
  41. ^ "কংগ্রেসে আপত্তি এসইউসিআই-এর, ছাব্বিশের ভোটে প্রশ্নের মুখে তৃণমূল-বিজেপি বিরোধী জোট". 20 August 2025.
  42. ^ "- YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016.
  43. ^ "India Vision News Clip – SUCI Party Congress inauguration (in Malayalam)". Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  44. ^ "News&contentId=6269200&tabId=11&BV_ID=@@@ Nihar Mukherjee again elected as SUCI's General Secretary "(In Malayalam)"".
  45. ^ SUCI rechristens itself as SUCI (Communist)
  46. ^ "Provash Ghosh, SUCI General Secretary, Mathrubhumi Online, 5 March 2010, Kerala News (In Malayalam)". Archived from the original on 7 March 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
  47. ^ "ব্রিগেড থেকে সিপিএমকে বিঁধে সরব এসইউসি".
  48. ^ Provash Ghosh (15 December 2013). "SUCI(C) calls for developing powerful socio-cultural movements based on higher ethics and morality to stop proliferation of depraved thoughts like homosexuality" (PDF). Proletarian Era.
  49. ^ https://ganadabi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/gd06292007.pdf
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