Satyashodhak Communist Party

The Satyashodhak Communist Party is a political party in the state of Maharashtra, India. The party was founded by Comrade Sharad Patil, who as of 2009 still serves as its General Secretary.[1][2] The party bases its political philosophy on the thinking of Karl Marx, B. R. Ambedkar and Jyotirao Phule.[3]

Satyashodhak Communist Party
SecretarySharad Patil
Founded1978
IdeologyMarxism
Phule thought
Ambedkarism
AllianceRepublican Left Democratic Front

Patil had been an organizer of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Dhule district. He developed his own ideological thesis of 'Marxism-Phule-Ambedkarism', and in 1978 he broke with the CPI(M) and founded the Satyashodhak Communist Party.[4] The party was named after Phule's Satyashodhak Samaj. Patil called for the building of an alliance between Dalits and Other Backward Castes, especially amongst the peasantry. The main base of the movement at the time of its foundation was limited to two Adivasi talukas in Dhule district, but Patil's rhetoric won an audience across the state and played an influential formulating a popular understanding of class-caste relations in rural areas. He relied heavily on motifs from classical Indian literature during speaking tours of rural areas.[4]

In the early 1980s, the party added 'ending women's slavery' to its programme for Democratic Revolution.[4]

Ahead of the April 2009 Lok Sabha election, the party joined the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front.[5] In August 2009, in the run-up to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election, the party took part in founding the Republican Left Democratic Front popularly known as RIDALOS, a broad coalition of political parties in Maharashtra.[6][7]

References
  1. Rege, Sharmila (2006). Writing Caste, Writing Gender: Reading Dalit Women's Testimonios. Zubaan. p. 7.
  2. Patil, Sharad. Diagnosis of Left's Debacle Still Undetected, Mainstream 30 July 2009
  3. Antithesis of Caste and Class - An Orthodox Marxist Hypothesis
  4. Omvedt, Gail. Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India. Socialism and social movements. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1993. pp. 67-68, 95
  5. Dhawale, Ashok. What Lok Sabha Results Show, People's Democracy 10 May 2009
  6. Menon, Meena. Republican Left Democratic Front launched; to contest in Maharashtra, The Hindu 25 August 2009
  7. Bhupta, Malini. Diversity in unity, India Today 24 September 2009
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