Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Red Flag
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Red Flag (CPI (ML) Red Flag) was a political party in India. CPI (ML) Red Flag was formed in 1988 as a break-away from the Central Reorganisation Committee, CPI(ML). The party's main base of support was in Kerala, where it emerged as the major ML faction. It also expanded to other states including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh,West Bengal and Odisha. The party head office was located in Delhi.
The first All India Secretary of the party was Arup Majumdar, followed by K.N. Ramachandran.
In 2003 a large section of the party in Kerala, including the majority in the Kerala State Committee, broke away, and are running a parallel CPI (ML) Red Flag. The split was led by the Kerala state secretary of the party, P.C. Unnichekkan, and M.S. Jayakumar. This party continues to use the name CPI(ML) Red Flag.
The main mass organisation of the party was the Trade Union Centre of India (TUCI). Regional mass organisations of the party included Yuvajanavedi, Kerala Vidyarthi Sanghatana (Kerala Students Organisation, a student's wing) and Janakeeya Kala Sahitya Vedi (a cultural front) in Kerala, and Adivasi Democratic Front in Madhya Pradesh.
CPI (ML) Red Flag published Red Star (English), Iykya Horatta (Kannada) and Saghavu (Malayalam).
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2004 CPI(ML) Red Flag and CPI (ML) took the initiative to form a united front of revolutionary communists. In that front they were able to gather, more than CPI (ML) and CPI (ML) Red Flag, Centre of Communist Revolutionaries (West Bengal), Lal Nishan Party (Leninvadi), Marxist Communist Party of India, Marxist-Leninist Committee, New Socialist Movement, Gujarat, Provisional Central Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and Bhagat Singh Vichar Manch.
In Kerala a Left Front was formed ahead of the elections together with BTR-EMS-AKG Janakeeya Samskarika Vedi of V.B. Cheriyan.
CPI (ML) Red Flag merged with Kanu Sanyal's Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) at a unity conference in Vijayawada January 2005
References
e.p.karthikeyan was first secretary of kerala vidyarthi snghatana