Communist Party of India (Marxist) — Tamil Nadu

Communist Party of India (Marxist), Tamil Nadu
Communist Party of India (Marxist), Tamil Nadu
Secretary	P. Shanmugam
Headquarters	27, Vaidyaraman St, T. Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu—600017
Newspaper	Theekkathir
Student wing	Students' Federation of India
Youth wing	Democratic Youth Federation of India
Women's wing	All India Democratic Women's Association
Labour wing	Centre of Indian Trade Unions
Peasant's wing	All India Kisan Sabha ; All India Agricultural Workers Union ;
Ideology	Communism
Political position	Left-wing
Alliance	Secular Progressive Alliance ; (2017–present); Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance ; (2023–present);
Seats in Lok Sabha	2 / 39
Seats in Rajya Sabha	0 / 18
Seats in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly	2 / 234
Election symbol
Party flag
Website
	cpim.org
	Politics of India ; Political parties ; Elections ;

Last updated August 20, 2025

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) , or simply, CPI(M) Tamil Nadu; is the state unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) of the Tamil Nadu. Its head office is situated at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The current secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Tamil Nadu State Committee is P. Shanmugam.

Election results

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election

Year	Party leader	Seats won	Change in seats	Outcome
1967		11 / 234	11	Government
1971		0 / 234	11	Opposition
1977	A. Balasubramaniam	12 / 234	12	Government
1980	A. Balasubramaniam	11 / 234	1	Government
1984		5 / 234	6	Opposition
1989		15 / 234	10	Government
1991		1 / 234	14	Opposition
1996	N. Sankaraiah	1 / 234		Opposition
2001	N. Sankaraiah	6 / 234	5	Government
2006	N. Varadarajan	9 / 234	3	Government
2011	G. Ramakrishnan	10 / 234	1	Government
2016	G. Ramakrishnan	0 / 234	10	Opposition
2021	K. Balakrishnan	2 / 234	2	Government

Lok Sabha

Year	Party leader	Seats won	Change in seats	Outcome
1967	Puchalapalli Sundarayya	4 / 39	New	Opposition
1971		0 / 39	4	Opposition
1977		0 / 39		Government
1980	E. M. S. Namboodiripad	0 / 39		Opposition
1984		0 / 39		Opposition
1989		0 / 39		Outside support to National Front government
1991		0 / 39		Opposition
1996	Harkishan Singh Surjeet	0 / 39		Opposition, later government
1998		0 / 39		Opposition
1999		1 / 39	1	Opposition
2004		2 / 39	2	Outside support to UPA government
2009	Prakash Karat	1 / 39	1	Opposition
2014	Prakash Karat	0 / 39	1	Opposition
2019	Sitaram Yechury	2 / 39	2	Opposition
2024	Sitaram Yechury	2 / 39		Opposition

State Secretary List

No.	Secretary (Birth–Death)	Term	Total Years as secretary
1	M. R. Venkataraman (1907–1985)	1964–1972	8 Years
2	A. Balasubramaniam (1917–1981)	1972–1981	9 Years
3	A. Nallasivan (1922–1997)	1981–1995	14 Years
4	N. Sankaraiah (1921–2023)	1995–2002	7 Years
5	N. Varadarajan (1924–2012)	2002–2010	8 Years
6	G. Ramakrishnan (1949–)	2010–2018	8 Years
7	K. Balakrishnan (1953–)	2018–2025	7 Years
8	P. Shanmugam (1960–)	2025–present	Incumbent

List of Current Members in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly

No.	Constituency	Name	Party		Win Margin
164	Kilvelur (SC)	V. P. Nagaimaali		Communist Party of India (Marxist)	16,985
178	Gandharvakottai (SC)	M. Chinnadurai		Communist Party of India (Marxist)	12,721

List of Current Members in Lok Sabha from Tamil Nadu

No.	Constituency	Name	Party		Win Margin
22	Dindigul	R. Sachithanantham		Communist Party of India (Marxist)	4,43,821
32	Madurai	S. Venkatesan		Communist Party of India (Marxist)	2,09,409

References

↑ Chakrabarty, Bidyut (2014). Communism in India: Events, Processes and Ideologies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-1999-7489-4. LCCN 2014003207.
↑ — "India's election results were more than a 'Modi wave'". The Washington Post . Retrieved 31 May 2019.
—Withnall, Adam (2 January 2019). "Protesters form 620km 'women's wall' in India as female devotees pray at Hindu temple for first time". The Independent .
— "Manipur: CPI State Secretary, Blogger Arrested over CAA Protests". The Wire . Retrieved 24 December 2019.
—Choudhury, Shubhadeep (4 May 2020). "West Bengal has the highest mortality rate of COVID-19 patients: IMCT". The Tribune .
—Nandi, Proshanta (2005). "Communism through the Ballot Box: Over a Quarter Century of Uninterrupted Rule in West Bengal". Sociological Bulletin. 54 (2): 171–194. doi:10.1177/0038022920050202. ISSN 0038-0229. JSTOR 23620496. S2CID 157014751.
—Fernandes, Leela (1996). "Review of Development Policy of a Communist Government: West Bengal since 1977, ; Indian Communism: Opposition, Collaboration and Institutionalization, Ross Mallick". The Journal of Asian Studies. 55 (4): 1041–1043. doi:10.2307/2646581. ISSN 0021-9118. JSTOR 2646581. S2CID 236090170.
—Moodie, Deonnie (August 2019). "On Blood, Power and Public Interest: The Concealment of Hindu Sacrificial rites under Indian Law" . Journal of Law and Religion. 34 (2): 165–182. doi:10.1017/jlr.2019.24. ISSN 0748-0814. S2CID 202333308.

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[OUP_Ideology-1] Chakrabarty, Bidyut (2014). Communism in India: Events, Processes and Ideologies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-1999-7489-4. LCCN 2014003207.

[2] — "India's election results were more than a 'Modi wave'". The Washington Post . Retrieved 31 May 2019.
—Withnall, Adam (2 January 2019). "Protesters form 620km 'women's wall' in India as female devotees pray at Hindu temple for first time". The Independent .
— "Manipur: CPI State Secretary, Blogger Arrested over CAA Protests". The Wire . Retrieved 24 December 2019.
—Choudhury, Shubhadeep (4 May 2020). "West Bengal has the highest mortality rate of COVID-19 patients: IMCT". The Tribune .
—Nandi, Proshanta (2005). "Communism through the Ballot Box: Over a Quarter Century of Uninterrupted Rule in West Bengal". Sociological Bulletin. 54 (2): 171–194. doi:10.1177/0038022920050202. ISSN 0038-0229. JSTOR 23620496. S2CID 157014751.
—Fernandes, Leela (1996). "Review of Development Policy of a Communist Government: West Bengal since 1977, ; Indian Communism: Opposition, Collaboration and Institutionalization, Ross Mallick". The Journal of Asian Studies. 55 (4): 1041–1043. doi:10.2307/2646581. ISSN 0021-9118. JSTOR 2646581. S2CID 236090170.
—Moodie, Deonnie (August 2019). "On Blood, Power and Public Interest: The Concealment of Hindu Sacrificial rites under Indian Law" . Journal of Law and Religion. 34 (2): 165–182. doi:10.1017/jlr.2019.24. ISSN 0748-0814. S2CID 202333308.

[1]

[2]

v t e Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Founders	V. S. Achuthanandan Muzaffar Ahmed G. Bapanaiah M. Basavapunnaiah Jyoti Basu A. K. Gopalan Promode Dasgupta Abdul Halim E. K. I. Bava C. H. Kanaran H. K. Konar A. V. Kunjambu J. S. Lyallpuri S. K. Mishra Saroj Mukherjee E. M. S. Namboodiripad E. K. Nayanar Mohan Punamia P. Ramamurthi K. Ramani D. V. Rao M. H. Rao N. Prasad Rao T. Nagi Reddy N. Sankaraiah R. P. Saraf Bhag Singh P. Sundarayya H. S. Surjeet D. S. Tapiala R. N. Upadhyaya M. R. Venkataraman
General secretaries	P. Sundarayya (1964–78) E. M. S. Namboodiripad (1978–92) Harkishan Singh Surjeet (1992–2005) Prakash Karat (2005–15) Sitaram Yechury (2015–24) M.A. Baby (2025–present)
Current politburo	M. A. Baby Ashok Dhawale Pinarayi Vijayan Mohammed Salim B. V. Raghavulu Tapan Kumar Sen Nilotpal Basu Ram Chandra Dome A. Vijayaraghavan M.V. Govindan Vijoo Krishnan U. Vasuki Jitendra Choudhury Amra Ram Srideep Bhattacharya K. Balakrishnan Mariam Dhawale
Chief ministers	E. M. S. Namboodiripad Jyoti Basu Nripen Chakraborty E. K. Nayanar Dasarath Deb Manik Sarkar Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee V. S. Achuthanandan Pinarayi Vijayan
Related organisations	All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) Students' Federation of India (SFI)
Major state units	CPI(M) Kerala CPI(M) Tamil Nadu CPI(M) Tripura CPI(M) West Bengal
Newspapers	People's Democracy Deshabhimani Ganashakti Daily Desher Katha Lok Lahar Prajasakti Nava Telangana Theekkathir