The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (CPI (ML)) was an Indian communist party formed by the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR) at a congress in Calcutta in 1969. The foundation of the party was declared by Kanu Sanyal at a mass meeting in Calcutta on 22 April, Vladimir Lenin's birthday. Later the CPI(ML) party splintered into several Naxalite groups. Origin The CPI (ML) was formed by the radicals within the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) who grew concerned by the increasingly parliamentary character of its politics. A debate ensued where the radicals accused the CPM leadership of turning towards revisionism. Finally, the party purged the radicals, who went to form the CPI (ML). The CPI (ML) advocated armed revolution and denounced participation in the electoral process. Its leaders were Charu Majumdar and Saroj Dutta, both of whom had belonged to the left-wing within the CPM in northern West Bengal. Sanyal, Jongol Santhal and his followers had mobilised a revolutionary peasants movement in Naxalbari, which evolved into an armed uprising of the mostly Santhal tribal inhabitants. CPI (ML) saw Naxalbari as the spark that would start a new Indian revolution, and the movement came to be known as "naxalites". In several parts of India, for example Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, other parts of West Bengal, and in Srikakulam in northern Andhra Pradesh, the CPI (ML) organised guerrilla units. The party got moral support from China, which actively encouraged the attempts of CPI (ML) to launch revolution. According to Pradip Basu in his book Towards Naxalbari (1953-1967): An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle: "There were two nuclei of radicals in the party organisation in West Bengal. One 'theorist' section around Parimal Das Gupta in Calcutta, which wanted to persuade the party leadership to correct revisionist mistakes through inner-party debate, and one 'actionist' section led by Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal in North Bengal. The 'actionists' were impatient, and strived to organize armed uprisings. According to Basu, due to the prevailing political climate of youth and student rebellion it was the 'actionists' which came to dominate the new Maoist movement in India, instead of the more theoretically advanced sections." Naxalbari uprising It occurred in Naxalbari of Siliguri subdivision, Darjeeling district under the leadership of communist leaders like Charu Majumdar and others who later became the part of CPI (ML). Srikakulam peasant uprising In the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, communist