In April 1951, Kaka-babu was released. But the arrests continued even after a year and many comrades were still behind bars.

We realised that the government would be forced to let us work as a lawful entity. After our release, we set about establishing party offices. Everything was disorganized and in a disarray. It was at Kaka-babu's initiative that the state party committee office was set up at 64, Acharya Jagadish Bose Road. Most of the leaders were still in jail or underground.

I was out of jail. A big private car used to stand outside my residence everyday and followed me wherever I went. It did not take me much to realise that it was a police detective car which was keeping vigil on me. One day, I chose to take another way out of the house, changed taxis twice and went straight to Bidhan Roy’s chamber at Writers Buildings. I told him, "Your government has not released me, but the high court has. Why is the Intelligence Bureau car following me?"

Dr Roy immediately called for the then police inspector-general, Hiren Sarkar, and asked him, "Why is Jyoti being followed?" Sarkar replied, "They believe in violence." I had a heated exchange with Sarkar and Dr Roy asked him to leave. The vigil stopped after this.

I had been absent from the Assembly for almost two years; the government owed me a lot in salaries. Dr Roy directed that all the arrears be cleared. I suddenly came upon a lot of money, a part of which I handed over to the party.

I was one of the delegates at a secret national conference of the party held in Calcutta some time in 1951. Kaka-babu was also there. The new party strategy was adopted and Ajay Ghosh was elected the new general secretary. A rectification programme was announced.

Shortly before this, the West Bengal unit of the party had held a conference in Calcutta. Kaka-babu was elected secretary of the West Bengal unit. A huge rally was held at the Calcutta Maidan, the first such meeting after the party had been declared legal. Some contemporary news reports dubbed the rally as "historic."

In my speech, I pointed out that the party had indeed erred in certain respects and that there was an urgent need to rectify these mistakes. The news of the resumption of publication of "Swadhinata" was also announced; in a few days time, the party organ did start work again from a house in Park Circus.

The Telengana agitation had been withdrawn. But the prisoners had not been released yet. When we leaders wore in jail in connection with this agitation.

The Telengana agitation had been withdrawn but the leaders were still languishing in jail. Kaka-babu and I were told by the party leadership to visit Telengana. We were also asked to meet Pandit Nehru in Delhi.

Kaka-babu and I went to Telengana and met the prisoners there. Kaka-babu returned to Calcutta while I went to Delhi. Mridula Sarabhai acted as the go-between in the talks between Pandit Nehru and me. The Prime Minister said that he would look into the Telengana release affair. Nehru asked me what we felt about the foreign policy. I said that while we had no basic fight with the policy, we were at a loss to understand why an American observer in Kashmir Nehru seemed slightly irritated and retorted, " I am not a Communist… I have to keep in touch with everybody." I did not go into any further argument since I had gone to Delhi on a specific mission. I was with the Prime Minister for 50 minutes.

I returned with the feeling that some of the prisoners would be released. The release process started and warrants issued against underground leaders started being withdrawn. We also started work on the first general elections in right earnest. The "Swadhinata" resumed publication on February 9, 1951. I became the president of the new editorial board. The resumption of "Swadhinata" was the fruit of a combined effort by all of us; we have to remember that a major part of the leadership was still behind bars. This was even more creditable since the party was going through a major funds crunch. On top of this was the Congress government’s untiring efforts to throttle "Swadhinata."

The order for Kaka-babu’s release came on April 27,1951. The government had realised that there was no option but to free him since the court would exonerate him anyway; the administration did not wait for the verdict.

The full Provincial Committee of the party was formed in the end of 1951. Before this, we had had only the organizational and working committees. Many leaders were still in jail. Saroj Mukherjee was among those who were released in the later phases.

We set about organising the party in the districts, getting prisoners released, carrying out the agitation on the food crisis and refugee rehabilitation and working on the run-up to the elections. I attended the Assembly whenever I was in Calcutta.

I took part in a number of debates during the 1951-52 Budget Session which began on February 8, 1951. The Congress had split by then with Dr P. C. Ghosh. Suresh Banerjee and Charu Chandra Bandari forming the Praja Socialist Party. Hemanta Bose had also left the Congress Legislative Party. They used to sit in the Opposition benches. I did not miss a single opportunity to criticise the Congress government in the Assembly. During the debate on the Governor’s address, Ratanlal Brahman, speaking in his halting Bengali, raised valid issues pertaining to the plight of the tea garden labourers.

Kaka-babu was given a citizen’s felicitation on May 18, 1951 at the Calcutta University Institute Hall. Presided over by lawyer Atul Ganguly, the programme was a major success and had Hemanta Bose, Mrinalkanti Bose and Satyapriya Banerjee as convenors.

"Swadhinata" reported the next day, "The people’s leader, Muzaffar Ahmed, was given a warm felicitation at the University Institute Hall which was choc-a-bloc with people. Comrade Muzaffar Ahmed gave a passionate speech where he asked for the release of detenus who had been arrested without trial. He appealed for a major movement on this issue."

The party line for the elections was in place. It was decided that we would ally with left and democratic forces on the basis of a progressive democratic programme.

On March 27,1951, I led a delegate team of the EI Rail Road Workers Union to S.Guruswamy who was the general secretary of the AIRF.We stressed on the need for greater unity of action among the various railway unions. I presided over a special meeting of the EI Rail Roads Workers Union during April13-14,1951. Delegates participated from Allahabad, Tundla, Jamalpur, Asansol, Liluah, Howrah, Bandel, Rampurhat, Naihati, Kanchrapara and Calcutta. A new working committee was set up with Satyen Ganguly as the general secretary.

I addressed a rally at Siliguri on May 22 organised by the railway workers and said that it was necessary to make the movement stronger despite the lack of unity and non-cooperation of some AIRF leaders. The Congress government had carried out major attacks on our union. A few thousands of our workers were in jail without trial. The Congress government was acting like the British regime but the red flag was getting increasingly visible in the villages, factories and tea gardens. Ratanlal Brahman also spoke on the occasion.

The food crisis was acute at the time. Essential commodities were going out of reach of the common man. A dhoti of Rs 10 was selling at treble the price. Hunger rallies were being taken out in various areas. The singlemost important cry was that for food. A cornered people launched raids on hoarders and news of clashes kept coming in. A 5000-strong hunger rally was brought on April 21, 1951, in Cooch Behar town. The police resorted to unprovoked lathicharge and firing. Five people were killed and at least 40 hurt. Another rally was brought out the very next day and the police this time went on an allout offensive. The "Swadhinatha" was to report the next day: "The Army has been called out in Cooch Behar town. They are conducting flag marches in the city. Unprovoked firing by the police outside the secretariat has worsened matters, according to the official spokesman.

The protesters attacked the Cooch Behar police superintendent’s house and furniture was destroyed. Congress offices at Cooch Behar, Mathabhanga and Dinhatta were also raided by agitators and documents and furniture destroyed. News of more such clashes are coming in."

There was a widespread demand to bring the killers to book. The government gave in and prohibitory orders under Section 144 were withdrawn. Ration shops were opened in some parts of the town.

A judicial probe headed by Justice Guha Roy was held but it was withheld since the contents did not go the way the government had wanted it to. Those who lost their lives in Cooch Behar were Dibyendra Talukdar (7 years; hit by bullets) and Kavita Bose (13 years; bullet injuries), while those who died in hospital were Bandana Talukdar (16 years; bullet injuries), Jiten alias Badal Biswas (23 years; bullet injuries) and Satish Debnath (25 years; bullet injuries).

I was sent to Cooch Behar to investigate and make an on the spot study. I met the guardians of the victims apart from Leftist workers and eminent citizens and addressed a huge meeting of 6000 people on April 29. I said, "You have shown the way to entire West Bengal. In the last four years of Congress rule, 200 people including 40 women have been killed in police firing.'' The demand for a non-partial probe was also made.

On May 16, I was sent to Cooch Behar again. At a huge gathering at Dinhata, I said, "The Congress government has not solved any problems of the country. In fact it is making the situation more complex. Hungry people are being fired upon. The need of the hour is a Left democratic people’s government. The Congress government must be ousted. The country must progress under a new leadership." I said that the recent events in Cooch Behar could be a model for the people's movement and that it was important to work and strengthen the roots of this agitation. The rally was reported in the May 20 edition of "Swadhinata."

All Left-minded trade union organisations celebrated May Day of 1951 from a common platform. It was at this point of time that the idea of unity on the basis of broad Leftist ideals started to grow in the country. The elections came right at that time. The elections were to be held in January 1952 and we took this very seriously, starting work from October itself.

It the meantime, the conference of the West Bengal Provincial Committee had been held and Kaka-babu had been elected the secretary while I was one of the committee members. Ajay Ghosh had by then already been elected the new national general secretary.

The central committee decided that the party would take part in the election and the manifesto was circulated. The manifesto pinpointed the Congress as the main enemy and said that all Opposition parties needed to unite to defeat it. A demand was made to ensure free and fair elections and release all political detenus. If this were not done, the elections would be reduced to a farce.

We did not see perceive the general elections as an issue unconnected with the general demand for the freedom of all political detenus, the food crisis and the refugee rehabilitation issues. On November 11, 1951, the West Bengal Provincial Committee issued a statement saying that there were still 500 nationalists in jails of the state and 43 others had warrants against them.They had to be released before the elections. The party made out a list of these detenus which included names of Ganesh Ghosh (Calcutta), Ranen Sen (Calcutta), Abdur Rajjack Khan (24 Paraganas), Ajit Ganguly (24 Paraganas), Nityananda Choudhury (24 Paraganas), Jatin Maity (Midnapore), Rabi Moitra (Midnapore),Bhupal Panda (Midnapore), Satyendra Narayan Mazumder (Darjeeling), Sushital Roy Choudhury (Hooghly), Bijoy Modak (Hooghly) and Benoy Chowdhury (Bardhaman). All of them were candidates.

The signature campaign launched by us was drawing a huge response but on November 12, 1951, the chief minister announced at a press conference that the political detenus could not be released before the elections. Naturally, our movement got a fresh impetus in the face of Dr Roy's rather obstinate attitude.

We were faced with many obstacles. The party had just come out from a dark period and the organisation was still not in place. Most leaders were still either in hiding or in jail. To compound matters, there was a severe funds crunch But we went headlong into the election fray.

In October, we arrived at a sort of understanding with some other parties. On November 3, we released a list of 88 candidates. I circulated a statement of the provincial committee to journalists. The statement categorically said that the candidate list had been drawn up keeping in mind the understanding reached with other parties and that there should be no confusion regarding this. We also said that the talks were still on and that the list had been released only to consolidate and work for greater unity with the other parties.

The statement added that it was absolutely necessary to form a united anti-Congress front and this was quite possible. This front would comprise all anti-communal, democratic and progressive forces and that a common minimum programme was the need of the hour. This was the vital component of the unity talks and dominated all discussions.

The Forward Bloc, the Socialist Republican Party established by Sarat Bose, the Bolshevik Party of India, INA, People’s Movement and other groups and individuals came together to form the United Socialist Organisation (USO) and forged an election alliance with us on November 23. This was the first time that an anti-Congress opposition Front had been established.

The Front decided to sit up 143 candidates of which the Communist Party had a share of 71 and the USO fielded 72 nominees. Seventeen candidates were named for the Lok Sabha of which Communist Party had nine nominees and the USO eight candidates. It was decided that the USO and the Communist Party would go to the voters together and that there would be seat adjustments. The signatories to this statement were Ashok Ghosh for the USO while I represented the Communist Party.

We wanted the RSP to join the Front but did not succeed. However, we supported its candidate in the Behrampur Lok Sabha seat, Tridib Chowdhury. Dr Meghnad Saha fought for the RSP in the Calcutta North-West seat; we worked untiringly for him and he won.

Unfortunately, the RSP did not see reason and fielded candidates against the Front nominees in many places though it had no chances of winning. For example, while I was the candidate for the Baranagar Assembly constituency, the RSP fielded one of its top ranking leaders there. Similarly with the Calcutta North-East Lok Sabha seat: our candidate was Prof Hiren Mukherjee who, with 71,670 votes, trounced his Congress rival who managed only 36,180 votes. The RSP candidate lost his deposit with only 5831 votes. However, after the election, the RSP became part of the Front.

We had tried to come to an understanding with the Krishak Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP) and the Socialist Party. But these two did not want to share a common platform with us. Wherever there were no Front candidates, we appealed to the people to vote for the KMPP and Socialist Party. But both these parties set up candidates against us wherever possible.

On December 15, 1951, we had our first election meeting which culminated in a huge procession which went round the streets of Calcutta. Ajay Ghosh and the Forward Bloc (Marxist) leader Satyapriya Banerjee spoke on the occasion.