The Communist Party of India and the Indian Emergency

The first study of CPI’s role in supporting the Indira Gandhi government during the Indian Emergency of 1975.

India, June 1975. Fundamental rights are suspended. The Opposition is in jail. The Press is shut down. And Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has just declared Emergency. Only one political party supports Indira Gandhi’s action—the Communist Party of India (CPI).

Why did the CPI take up this lonely and much-criticised stand? Were there any pressures from the Soviet Union or was the CPI looking for some political mileage? CPI’s stance on the issue has never been discussed, analysed and understood. In an exhaustive study of the period, David Lockwood lays bare the facts before us. Through personal interviews with CPI members, internal documents of the party and archives, he presents the most thorough study of the CPI and the Emergency so far.