India Advance Block
The All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) is a left-wing nationalist party in India..
History
The AIFB was founded on 3 May 1939 by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose after leaving the Indian National Congress. During World War II Bose led the Indian National Army, which was fighting alongside Japanese troops. After the war, the AIFB was reorganized. The AIFB suffered an internal division, resulting in the formation of two different parties: the Advance Bloc (Ruiker) and the Advance Bloc (Marxist). The party that today we call AIFB is the result of the Bloc of Advance (Marxist).
Forward Bloc Today
The AIFB fights for socialism in India, but they consider their socialism to be different from the socialism proposed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India because 'their socialism is based on foreign ideologues like Marx or Lenin", while the socialism of the AIFB is "the Indian socialism of Netaji".
The AIFB has branches in various parts of the country, but its strength is concentrated in West Bengal. The party is part of the Left Front that governs the state, and the AIFB has several state ministers. The party also belongs to the Left Front in Tripura, but since the AIFB failed to win a seat there it has no minister.
Although the AIFB is cooperating with the CPI(M) in West Bengal, Tripura and nationally, it is not part of the Left Democratic Front in Kerala.
In the 2004 parliamentary election the party received 0.4% of the vote and won three seats in the Lok Sabha.
The general secretary is Debrata Biswas.
Mass Organizations
- All India Youth League (Indian Youth Union)
- All India Students Bloc (All India Student Block)
- Trade Union Coordination Committee (Comité de Coordinación Sindical)
- All India Agragami Kisan Sabha (Unión Campesina 'Adelante' of All India)
- All India Agragami Mahila Samiti (Associación de Mujeres 'Adelante' de Toda India)
The party has also founded an India-China Friendship Association.
Lok Sabha Election Results
| State | No. of candidates 2004 | No. of elected 2004 | No. of candidates 1999 | No. of elected 1999 | No. Total state seats |
| Andhra Pradesh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Assam | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Bihar | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 40 (2004)/54(1999) |
| Chhattisgarh | 0 | 0 | - | - | 11 (2004) |
| Goa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Guyarat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
| Haryana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Jharkhand | 0 | 0 | - | - | 14 (2004) |
| Karnataka | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Kerala | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 (2004)/40(1999) |
| Maharashtra | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
| Manipur | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Meghalaya | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mizoram | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nagaland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Orissa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Panyab | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Raystan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Sikkim | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Tamil Nadu | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 39 |
| Tripura | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80 (2004)/85 (1999) |
| Uttaranchal | 0 | 0 | - | - | 5 (2004) |
| West Bengal | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 42 |
| Federal Territories: | |||||
| Andaman " Nicobar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Chandigarh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Damán and Diu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Delhi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Laquedivas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pondicherry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total: | 10 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 543 |
State Election Results
| State | No. of candidates | No. of elect | No. of votes | % | No. Total seats | Year of election |
| Delhi | 5 | 0 | 1977 | 0.56% | 70 | 2003 |
| Karnataka | 1 | 0 | 657 | 0.77 % | 224 | 2004 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 1 | 0 | 781 | 0.77 % | 230 | 2003 |
| Maharashtra | 1 | 0 | 262 | 0.23 % | 288 | 1999 |
| Orissa | 1 | 0 | 832 | 0.79 % | 147 | 2004 |
| Panyab | 2 | 0 | 2516 | 1.98 % | 117 | 2002 |
| Tamil Nadu | 1 | 1 | 39248 | 43.32 % | 234 | 2001 |
| Tripura | 1 | 0 | 9844 | 43.57 % | 60 | 2003 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 4 | 0 | 4233 | 0.8 % | 402 | 2002 |
| West Bengal | 34 | 25 | 2067944 | 49.58 % | 294 | 2001 |