All India Kisan Sabha (36 Canning Lane)

This organization is sometimes referred to as All India Kisan Sabha (36 Canning Lane), to distinguish it from the All India Kisan Sabha of Communist Party of India. All India Kisan Sabha (36 Canning Lane) was previously known as All India Kisan Sabha (Ashoka Road).

History

After the 1964 split in the Communist Party of India, there were efforts to retain AIKS as a united organization. However, there were tensions between the leftist and rightist factions within the AIKS. But soon, at the 28 August 1967 Central Kisan Council meeting in Madurai, differences arose over the membership figures. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) faction in AIKS accused the Communist Party of India faction of presenting falsely inflated membership data of state units in order to increase their influence in the organization. The dispute led to a walk-out from the Central Kisan Council. Due to the disruptive activities of those leaders, finally, there was a split in the Kisan Sabha, and another Kisan Sabha was constituted in October 1967, after a section of the leadership left the AIKS and formed a separate Sabha.

As a result, the CPI faction constitutes a parallel All India Kisan Sabha of its own by holding their 19th All India Conference at Amravati, Maharashtra, in January 1968. And the CPI(M) faction constitutes All India Kisan Sabha (36 Canning Lane) by holding its 19th All India Conference at Madurai, Tamil Nadu, on January 26–28, 1968. In Madurai, the conference amended its constitution and abolished AIKC as it rarely met. As there was no AIKC, the conference directly elected the CKC and office bearers for the first time. The conference elected A. K. Gopalan as its president, and Hare Krishna Konar was elected the general secretary. The conference also elected a 33-member CKC, including office bearers. On the last evening, a public rally was held at Madurai. A large number of peasants, agricultural workers, and working-class people attended the huge gathering. It was addressed by J. S. Lyallpuri, E. M. S. Namboodiripad, P. Ramamurthi, and others. A decision was taken to shift the central office. The Central Office of the Kisan Sabha was shifted from Delhi, 4 Ashoka Road, in April 1968, to Calcutta, first at 49 Lake Place and then to 36A Beniapukur Road, Calcutta 14.