SANTOSH RANA

(1942 - 2019)

Santosh Rana (1942 – 29 June 2019) was an Indian politician and Secretary General of the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).

In the 1960s, Rana had been a supporter of the CPI(Marxist), but later in the decade he joined the CPI(Marxist-Leninist) led by Charu Mazumdar, left his PhD University of Calcutta unfinished and returned to his village in Gopiballavpur to join the agrarian revolution. He became a prominent figure in the armed struggle of the Naxalites in Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa.

As the CPI(ML) movement began to splinter, Santosh Rana broke with Charu Majumdar in 1971 and later joined the group led by Satyanarayan Singh, a prominent leader, who also had rebelled against Charu Majumdar in 1971. This group formed a Provisional Central Committee and claimed the mantle of the CPI(ML). Subsequently, Santosh Rana became general secretary of this party.

Despite his Naxalite political origins, Rana participated in elections and held numerous disagreements with the line and tactics of contemporary Maoist guerrillas of the CPI(Maoist) and others, whom he accused of indiscriminate killings and lacking respect for the democratic rights of the people.

WRITINGS AND STATEMENTS BY SANTOSH RANA:

Revolt in Jangalmahal (2008)

Statement of Santosh Rana, General Secretary of PCC CPI(ML), on Jangalmahal (10 August 2010)

On the Murder of Niyamat Ansari in Jharkhand (15 April 2011)

Statement on the Murder of Babu Bose in Jangalmahal (26 September 2011)

Delhi Assembly Election – A Referendum Against Modi(2015)