The Satyashodhak Communist Party is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, India. The party was founded by Comrade Sharad Patil, who as of 2009 still serves as its General Secretary. The party bases its political philosophy on the thinking of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Bhīmrāo Rāmjī Āmbēḍkar; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on t ...

and

Jyotirao Phule Jyotirao Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890), also known as Jyotiba Phule, was an Indian social activist, businessman, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields, including eradication of ...

. Patil had been an organizer of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

in the Dhule district. He developed his ideological thesis of 'Marxism-Phule-Ambedkarism', and in 1978 he broke with the CPI(M) and founded the Satyashodhak Communist Party. The party was named after Phule's

Satyashodhak Samaj Satyashodhak Samaj (''Truth-seekers' Society'') was a social reform society founded by Jyotiba Phule in Pune, Maharashtra, on 24 September 1873. The society endeavoured to mitigate the distress and sufferings of Dalits and women. It espoused a m ...

. Patil called for the building of an alliance between

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

s 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 The Adivasi (also transliterated as Adibasi) are heterogeneous tribal groups across the Indian subcontinent. The term is a recent invention from the 20th century and is now widely used as a self-designation by groups classified as Scheduled Tr ...

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

as 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.

Omvedt, Gail Gail Omvedt (2 August 1941 – 25 August 2021) was an American-born Indian sociologist and human rights activist. She was a prolific writer and published numerous books on the anti-caste movement, Dalit politics, and women's struggles in India. ...

.
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 In the early 1980s, the party added 'ending women's slavery' to its programme for Democratic Revolution. Ahead of the April 2009 Lok Sabha election, the party joined the CPI(M)-led

Left Democratic Front The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is an alliance of Left-wing politics, left-wing political parties led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the current List of current Indian ruling and opposition parties, r ...

. 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.Bhupta, Malini.
Diversity in unity
', ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

'' 24 September 2009

References

{{Authority control Political parties in Maharashtra Communist parties in India Political parties established in 1978 Ambedkarite political parties 1978 establishments in Maharashtra