Communist reformers in West Bengal: Origins, features, and relations with New Delhi

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

The early support of the communists within West Bengal was among the unionized working class. The peasantry within West Bengal has also over the years proven to be more susceptible to radicalism and communist appeals than in other parts of India. The role of Moscow-returned Bengali communists was quite significant in this process. Foreign-returned communists had all the necessary ingredients to facilitate ideological conversion: intellectual sophistication; commitment to anti-imperialism; the blessings of the greatest revolutionary leaders, the Bolsheviks; and most of all, readiness to court danger and risk their lives for a higher social good. Individuals as Pramode Das Gupta, Hare Krishna Konar and Binoy Chowdhury are all old terrorist revolutionaries who converted to communism and then devoted their lives to building the communist movement in Bengal. The very factors which undermined Congress’ support, moreover, worked in favor of the communists.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationState Politics in Contemporary India
Subtitle of host publicationCrisis or Continuity?
PublisherTaylor and Francis
Pages81-102
Number of pages22
ISBN (Electronic)9781000241181
ISBN (Print)9780367288709
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2019

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Social Sciences

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