Puran Chand Joshi (14 April 1907 – 9 November 1980) was one of the early leaders of the communist movement in India.

The other early communist leaders who were arrested along with him included Shaukat Usmani, Muzaffar Ahmed, S. A. Dange, and S. V. Ghate.

After his release in 1933, Joshi worked towards bringing a number of groups under the banner of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

In February 1938, when the Communist Party of India started in Bombay its first legal organ, the National Front, Joshi became its editor.

An outstanding contribution of Joshi to the theory and practice of the communist movement was his initiation of politico-ideological hegemony and cultural renaissance.

Even today people become communists or democrats when they delve deep into political, ideological and cultural contributions of his time.

His slogan of "National Front" against imperialism, colonialism and fascism fully accorded with times and aspirations of educated masses.

Students, youth, teachers, professionals, artists, enlightened bourgeoisie and many others accepted aspects of Marxism in their broadest meaning.

[citation needed] During his leadership, communists transformed the Congress into a broad front with strong left influence.

Formation of CSP, WPP, Left Consolidation, and joint mass organizations radicalized vast sections of conscious people far beyond the confines of the CPI.

Several PCCs were directly led or participated in by communists such as Sohan Singh Josh, S. A. Dange, S. V. Ghate, S. S. Mirajkar, Malayapuram Singaravelu, Z.

Influence of Marxism spread far beyond communist movement, and was broadly accepted as the most advanced ideology, though interpretations varied.

By the end of 1930s and early 1940s, huge number of people converted to Marxism, leaving a deep imprint on ideology of the national movement: Congress, CSP, HSRA, Ghadar, Chittagong group, etc.

[citation needed] Important figures filled the socio-cultural scene in literature, art, culture, and films, radicalizing generations.

In the post-freedom period, the Communist Party of India, after the second congress in Calcutta (new spelling: Kolkata) adopted a path of taking up arms.

In his last days, he kept himself busy in research and publication works in Jawaharlal Nehru University to establish an archive on the Indian communist movement.