The Tebhaga movement was an independence campaign initiated in Bengal by the Kisan Sabha (peasants front of Communist Party of India) in 1946–47. At that time sharecroppers had to give half of their harvest to the landlords. The demand of the Tebhaga (sharing by thirds) movement was to reduce the share given to landlords to one third.
In many areas the agitations turned violent, and landlords fled villages leaving parts of the countryside in the hands of Kisan Sabha. In 1946, the sharecroppers of Bengal began to assert that they would no longer pay a half share of their crop to the Jotedars but only one-third and that before division the crop would be sure in their godowns and not that of the Jotedars. The sharecroppers were encouraged by the fact that the Bengal Land Revenue Commission had already made this recommendation in its report to the government. The Tebhaga movement resulted in clashes between Jotedars and Bargadars.
As a response to the agitations, the Muslim League ministry in the province launched the Bargadari Act, which provided that the share of the harvest given to the landlords would be limited to one third of the total. But the law was not fully implemented.