All India Kisan Sabha (36 Canning Lane)

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), or Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, is the peasant front of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and works for farmer's rights, peasant rights, and anti-feudal movement in India.[1]

All India Kisan Sabha
AbbreviationAIKS
Formation28 January 1968 (56 years ago) (1968-01-28)
TypePeasant Organisation
Legal statusActive
HeadquartersHarkishan Singh Surjeet Bhawan, 10, 11, 12, Indrajit Gupta Marg, Rouse Avenue, New Delhi, India–110002
President
Ashok Dhawale
General Secretary
Vijoo Krishnan
AffiliationsCommunist Party of India (Marxist)
Websitekisansabha.org

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).[1]

History

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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.[2]

 
Basu, Ranadive, Mukherjee, Basavapunnaiah, and Konar in the conference of AIKS held in Barsul, West Bengal in 1969

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.[2]

National office bearers

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The 35th All India Conference held at Thrissur, Kerala from 13–16 December 2022 elected Vijoo Krishnan as the general secretary of All India Kisan Sabha. National president Ashok Dhawale and finance secretary P. Krishna Prasad retained their positions from the previous Hisar conference.[3]

National Conference Date Place President General Secretary
19th 26–28 January 1968 Madurai A. K. Gopalan Hare Krishna Konar
20th 30 October–3 November 1969 Barsul
21st 23–26 September 1971 Rurka Kalan
22nd 11–14 April 1974 Sikar
23rd 30 March–1 April 1979 Varanasi Benoy Choudhury K. Chathunni
24th 8–11 November 1982 Midnapore Udaraju Raman Santimoy Ghosh
25th 17–19 May 1986 Patna Godavari Parulekar N. Sankaraiah
26th 27–30 April 1989 Khammam Harkishan Singh Surjeet Ram Narayan Goswami
27th 27–30 September 1992 Hisar N. Sankaraiah
28th 19–20 November 1995 Cuttack Benoy Krishna Konar S. Ramachandran Pillai
29th 5–8 March 1999 Kozhikode S. Ramachandran Pillai K. Varadarajan
30th 6–9 March 2003 Jalandhar
31st 28–31 January 2006 Nashik
32nd 7–10 January 2010 Guntur
33rd 24–27 July 2013 Cuddalore Amra Ram Hannan Mollah
34th 3–6 October 2017 Hisar Ashok Dhawale
35th 13–16 December 2022 Thrissur Vijoo Krishnan

Membership chart

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This chart uses the Indian numeral system

State/Union territory 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999–2000
Andhra Pradesh 2,11,465 1,37,100 2,25,137 2,25,234 1,00,808 2,15,930 1,00,000
Assam 1,44,538 1,59,723 1,01,324 1,44,545 1,18,611 1,61,277 1,44,588
Bihar 2,10,000 2,30,100 1,52,000 2,00,000 2,04,000 2,17,000 1,84,000
Gujarat 13,000 9,140 11,500 6,000 6,000 8,400 10,440
Haryana 14,500 12,500 12,300 13,000 15,000 14,100 16,150
Himachal Pradesh 5,200 5,000 6,000 7,000 13,000 12,780 10,000
Jammu and Kashmir 4,500 5,000 5,000 5,000 6,000 4,000 7,000
Karnataka 52,000 75,000 89,633 92,568 67,160 73,515 70,775
Kerala 10,05,760 12,26,488 11,91,666 13,23,562 13,33,620 17,66,606 19,45,366
Madhya Pradesh 19,000 19,252 36,012 37,482 48,965 37,534 50,411
Maharashtra 69,800 70,000 85,343 92,273 90,371 92,340 1,21,807
Manipur 5,740 4,100 4,720 5,140 4,700 4,960 -
Odisha 22,000 18,349 26,392 21,700 22,000 31,364 30,000
Punjab 80,000 1,05,600 1,30,120 90,000 1,02,000 1,06,000 1,20,000
Rajasthan 32,432 71,659 36,000 54,040 55,893 59,496 50,950
Sikkim 500 1,600 2,000 - 1,600 - -
Tamil Nadu 2,50,000 2,50,000 2,46,289 3,00,000 2,71,355 3,00,000 4,01,029
Tripura K.S. 1,01,000 1,11,920 1,26,500 2,12,000 (KS+GMP) 1,21,500 1,38,000 1,35,650
Tripura G.M.P 52,000 60,000 85,000 see above 92,000 92,000 70,000
Uttar Pradesh 89,655 1,28,450 1,26,000 1,60,000 1,15,844 1,37,499 1,15,084
West Bengal 99,54,652 1,05,38,499 1,11,06,406 1,14,59,519 1,00,55,121 1,12,18,075 1,10,11,153
Total: 1,23,37,742 1,32,39,480 1,36,25,726 1,44,49,063 1,28,45,248 1,46,90,879 1,45,94,403

Activities

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Protest against three Agri-bills

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AIKS demonstrators in Ramlila Maidan, Delhi, on 2005

AIKS led nationwide protests against Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

  • 26 January 2021: AIKS organized tractor rally in national capital.[4][5]
  • 25 January 2021: 50,000 farmers from various regions of Maharashtra marched towards the Raj Bhavan and submitted its charter of demands to Governor Bhagat Singh Kosyari.[6]
  • 24 January 2021: 20,000 farmers’ vehicle march from Golfclub Maidan in Nashik to Mumbai, Maharashtra.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "The Hindu Business Line : AP agri body seeks aid to tenant farmers". 24 February 2009. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b Mollah, Hannan (2018). An Outline History of All India Kisan Sabha (PDF). P. Sundarayya Memorial Trust and All India Kisan Sabha.
  3. ^ "Leadership – All India Kisan Sabha". Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Farmers, Delhi Police gear up for Republic Day tractor rally; unions announce Parliament march on 1 Feb". First Post. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Delhi Police flags threat to farmers' tractor rally on January 26". Business Standard, India. Agencies. 24 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Farm Laws: 50,000 Maharashtra farmers will march towards Raj Bhavan on Monday". The New Indian Express. 24 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  7. ^ "AIKS organizes 20,000-strong vehicle March from Nashik to Mumbai". The Siasat Daily. 24 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.

Further reading

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