ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses persistent attempts from the parties' pinnacles to solve the lingering conundrums of Left unity. It complicates the dominant narrative about socialist–communist relations by highlighting that while, at local levels, socialist and communist cadres engaged in ideologically internecine quarrels, Congress Socialist Party (CSP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) leaders continued to articulate paths for constructing the united front. The Roy Group employed united front tactics to seize control of the CSP from its petty bourgeois leadership. M. N. Roy's attempted disruption aggravated socialist suspicions about fraction work within the united front by communists who might utilize similar approaches to undermine socialism in India. In January 1938, M. R. Masani discussed socialist unity in an article, which touched off an intense debate about the nature and purpose of the united front. Masani alleged that communists defined possibilities for collaboration based on a working class party's relationship to the Soviet Union.
