Indrajit Gupta (1919-2001) was. at the time of this interview, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India. He was an MP for almost forty years and a few years after this interview became India's home minister, the most senior position taken by a communist in India's national government. The occasion for this interview was speculation about the prospect of reunification of the CPI and the larger CPI(M), the latter having broken away in 1964. Gupta said that split was 'certainly a mistake - but one which has not been rectified'. I interviewed him in Delhi on 25 June 1993.