The Tenth Party Congress was held after six years due to the imposition of the Emergency by Indira Gandhi. The1971-1977 period saw an onslaught on democracy and widespread violent repression in which 1,100 CPIM cadre in West Bengal and 400 in Kerala lost their lives. The period also saw massive protests against the Congress(I) government, including the railway strike of 1974 and the JP-led movement. The Indira Gandhi-led Congress party was routed in 1977, and the Janata Party came to power. Left-led state governments were formed in 1978.
The 10th Party Congress noted that while the CPI(M) valiantly fought against authoritarian forces, it under-estimated the depth of contradictions between the ruling and opposition bourgeois-landlord parties. It called for the forging of a left and democratic front which would defend democracy and also struggle for alternative economic policies. The Party Congress also called for defence of the two left-led state governments.
A 40-member Central Committee and 11-member Polit Bureau, with Comrade E M S Namboodiripad as the General Secretary, was elected.
