All India Kisan Sabha (abbr. AIKS; lit. All India Farmers Union, also known as the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha), is the peasant or farmers’ wing of the Communist Party of India, an important peasant movement formed by Sahajanand Saraswati in 1936.
History
The Kisan Sabha movement started in Bihar under the leadership of Sahajanand Saraswati who had formed in 1929 the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS) in order to mobilise peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights, and thus sparking the farmers’ movements in India.
Gradually the peasant movement intensified and spread across the rest of India. All these radical developments on the peasant front culminated in the formation of the All India Kisan Sabha at the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress in April 1936, with Swami Sahajanand Saraswati elected as its first president. The other prominent members of this Sabha were N.G. Ranga, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Bankim Mukerji, and it involved prominent leaders like N.G. Ranga, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, Indulal Yagnik, Sohan Singh Bhakna, Z.A. Ahmed, Pandit Karyanand Sharma, Pandit Yamuna Karjee, Pandit Yadunandan (Jadunandan) Sharma, Rahul Sankrityayan, P. Sundarayya, Ram Manohar Lohia, Yogendra Sharma and Bankim Mukherjee. The Kisan Manifesto, released in August 1936, demanded abolition of the zamindari system and cancellation of rural debts; in October 1937 it adopted the red flag as its banner. Soon, its leaders became increasingly distant with Congress and repeatedly came in confrontation with Congress governments, in Bihar and United Province.
In the subsequent years, the movement was increasingly dominated by Socialists and Communists as it moved away from the Congress. By the 1938 Haripura session of the Congress, under the presidency of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the rift became evident and by May 1942, the Communist Party of India, which was finally legalised by the government in July 1942, had taken over All India Kisan Sabha all across India, including Bengal where its membership grew considerably. It took on the Communist Party’s line of People’s War and stayed away from the Quit India Movement which started in August 1942, though this also meant losing its popular base. Many of its members defied party orders and joined the movement. Prominent members like N.G. Ranga, Indulal Yagnik and Swami Sahajananda soon left the organisation, which increasingly found it difficult to approach the peasants without the watered-down approach of pro-British and pro-war, and increasing its pro-nationalist agenda, much to the dismay of the British Raj.
Conferences and office bearers
| National Conference | Year | Place | President | General Secretary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (founder conference) |
11 April 1936 | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh | Sahajanand Saraswati | N. G. Ranga |
| 2 | 25,26 December 1936 | Faijpur | N. G. Ranga | Sahajanand Saraswati |
| 3 | 11–14 May 1938 | Comilla (now in Bangladesh) |
Sahajanand Saraswati | N. G. Ranga |
| 4 | 9–10 April 1939 | Gaya, Bihar | Narendra Deo | Sahajanand Saraswati |
| 5 | 26–27 March 1940 | Palasa, Andhra Pradesh | Rahul Sankrityayan | Indulal Yagnik |
| 6 | 29–31 May 1942 | Patna | Indulal Yagnik | Sahajanand Saraswati |
| 7 | 1–4 April 1943 | Bhakhna,Punjab | Bankim Mukherjee | |
| 8 | 14–15 March 1944 | Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh | Sahajanand Saraswati | Bankim Mukherjee |
| 9 | 5–9 April 1945 | Netrakona (now in Bangladesh) |
Muzaffar Ahmad | |
| 10 | 22–26 May 1947 | Secunderabad, Aligarh | Karyanand Sharma | M.A. Rasul |
| 11 | 22–23 April 1953 | Kannur, Kerala | Indulal Yagnik | N. Prasad Rao |
| 12 | 13–19 September 1954 | Moga, Punjab | ||
| 13 | 17–22 May 1955 | Talasari, Dahanu, Maharashtra | Nana Patil | |
| 14 | 28–30 September 1956 | Amritsar | A. K. Gopalan | |
| 15 | 28 October – 3 November 1957 | Bangaon, West Bengal | ||
| 16 | 29 April – 3 May 1959 | Mayuram, Tanjaur, Tamil Nadu | Bhabani Sen | |
| 17 | 17–19 May 1960 | Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh | ||
| 18 | 30 March – 2 April 1961 | Thrissur, Kerala | Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri | |
| 19 | 10–12 January 1968 | Amravati | Teja Singh Sutantar | Z.A. Ahmed |
| 20 | 1–5 April 1970 | Barasat, West Bengal | ||
| 21 | 19–23 September 1973 | Bhatinda | Z.A. Ahmed | Indradeep Sinha |
| 22 | 7–10 June 1979 | Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh | ||
| 23 | 28–31 December 1986 | Barabanki Uttar Pradesh | Indradeep Sinha | Y. V. Krishna Rao |
| 24 | 16–19 June 1993 | Madhubani, Bihar | Y. V. Krishna Rao | Bhogendra Jha |
| 25 | Bihar | Bhogendra Jha | Y. V. Krishna Rao | |
| 26 | Thrissur | Atul Kumar Anjan | ||
| 27 | Kauntai, West Bengal | C. K. Chandrappan | ||
| 28 | 9–12 December2010 | Aurangabad, Maharashtra | Prabodh Panda | |
| 29 | 27–29 March 2015 | Hyderabad, Telangana | ||
| 16 November 2021 | In CC meeting | R. Venkaiah |
- First conference held at Lucknow
President:Swami Sahajanand Saraswati General secretary:N.G.Ranga
- Second conference held at Faijpur on 25,26 December 1936
President: N.G.Ranga
- Third conference held at Comilla now in Bangladesh on 11–14 May 1938
President:Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
- Fourth conference held at Gaya, Bihar on 6–10 April 1939
President: Acharya Narendra Deo. Swagtadhyaksh: Pandit Yadunandan Sharma
- Fifth conference held at Palasa Andhra Pradesh on 26–27 March 1940 in presidentialship of Baba Sohanasing Bhakhna.
Pandit Rahul Sanskrityan was set as president but he was arrested before conference so Sohansing Bhakhna elected as president.
- Sixth conference held in Patna on 29-30-31 May 1942.
President: Indulal Yagnik
- Seventh conference held at Bhakhna,Punjab on 1–4 April 1943.
President: Bankim Mukherjee.
- Eighth conference held at Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh on 14–15 March 1944
President: Sahajanand Saraswati
- Ninth conference held at Netrakona now in Bangladesh on 7–9 April 1945
President: Muzaffar Ahmed
- Tenth conference held at Secunderabad Aligarh on 22–26 May 1947
President: Karyanand Sharma.
- Eleventh conference held at Kananoor Kerala on 22–23 April 1953
President: Indulal Yagnik General secretary: N. Prasad Rao.
- Twelfth conference held at Moga Punjab on 13–19 September 1954
President: Indulal Yagnik General secretary:N.Prasad Rao
- Thirteenth conference held at Talasari, Dahanu-Maharashtra on 17–22 May 1955
President: Com.Nana Patil General se: N. Prasad Rao.
- Fourteenth conference held at Amritsar 28–30 September 1956
President: A.K.Gopalan.
- Fifteenth conference held at Bangaon West Bengal on 28 October to 3 November 1957.
- Sixteenth conference held at Mayuram District Tanjaur Tamil Nadu.
- Seventeenth conference held at Gazipur on 17–19 May 1960.
President:A.K.Gopalan General secretary: Bhavani Sen.
- Eighteenth conference held at Thrisoor on 30 March to 2 April 1961
President:A.K.Gopalan. General Secretary: Kavitet Sing Layalpuri.
- Nineteenth conference held at Amravati on 10–12 January 1968
President: Com.Teja Sinh Swatantra General Secretary: Z.A. Ahmed.
- Twentieth conference held at Barasat, West Bengal on 1–5 April 1970
President: Teja Sinh General Secretary: Z.A.Ahmed
- Twenty-first conference held at Bhatinda on 19–23 September 1973.
- Twenty second conference held at Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh on 7–10 June 1979
President: Z.A.Ahmed General Secretary: Indradeep Sinha
- Twenty third conference held at Barabanki Uttar Pradesh on 28–31 December 1986
President: Indradeep Sinha General Secretary:Y.V.Krishna Rao.
- Twenty fourth conference held at Madhubani Bihar on 16–19 June 1993
President:Com. Y.V.Krishna Rao General Secretary: Com. Bhogendra Jha.
- Twenty fifth conference held at Bihar.
President:Com.Bhogendra Jha General Secretary:Com. Y.V.Krishna Rao.
- Twenty sixth conference held at Thrisur.
President: Com.Bhogendra Jha General Secretary:Com. Atulkumar Anjan
- Twenty seventh conference held at Kauntai West Bengal
President:Com.C.K.Chandrappan General Secretary:Com. Atulkumar Anjaan
- Twenty eighth conference held at Aurangabad Maharashtra on 10–12 December 2010
President:Com. Prabodh Panda General Secretary:Com. Atulkumar Anjaan
- Twenty ninth conference held at Hyderabad, Telanagana on 27–29 March 2015
President:Com.Prabodh Panda
Working President: Com. Bhupindar Sambar General Secretary: Com.Atulkumar Anjaan
Activities
Protest against three Agri-bills
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.
- 2 October 2018: AIKS organized march of farmers at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.
- 26 January 2021: AIKS organized tractor rally in national capital.
- 26 February 2022: AIKS led Thousands of farmers started marching to Dhule District (Maharashtra) Collector’s Office demanding forest land certificate.