Bhalchandra Trimbak Ranadive (; 19 December 1904 – 6 April 1990), popularly known as BTR, was an Indian

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician and trade union leader.

Personal life

He was elder brother of Ahilya Rangnekar, a CPI-M leader and 6th Lok Sabha member from

Mumbai North Central (Lok Sabha constituency) Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha constituency is a Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituency of Maharashtra state in western India. Assembly segments Presently, after the implementation of the delimitation of the parliamentary constituencies in 2 ...

. They belonged to a Marathi

Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) is a caste group mainly found in Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpandes and Gadkaris and according to the historian, ...

(CKP) family but Ranadive, a brilliant student, would teach Dalit students in his spare time.

Political career

Ranadive completed his studies in 1927, obtaining an M.A. degree with distinction and in 1928 he joined the clandestine

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

. In the same year he became a major leader of the

All India Trade Union Congress The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) is the oldest trade union federation in India. It is associated with the Communist Party of India. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, AITUC had a membership of 14.2 milli ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. He was active with the Girini Kamgar Union of the textile workers in

and with the struggles of the railway workers. He became the secretary of the GIP Railwaymen’s Union. In 1939, he married Vimal, a trade union activist. In 1943 he was elected to the central committee of the party. In February 1946 Ranadive played a major role in organizing a general strike in support of the Naval ratings revolt. At its 2nd Party Congress held in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in February, 1948 the party elected Ranadive in place of

P.C. Joshi Puran Chand Joshi (14 April 1907 – 9 November 1980), one of the early leaders of the communist movement in India. He was the general secretary of the Communist Party of India from 1935 to 1947. Early years Joshi was born on 14 April 1907, in ...

as its general secretary.Chandra, Bipan & others (2000). ''India after Independence 1947-2000'', New Delhi: Penguin, , p.204 Ranadive was the general secretary of CPI 1948-1950. During that period the party was engaged in

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

uprisings, such as the Telangana armed struggle. In 1950 Ranadive was deposed, and denounced by the party as a "left adventurist". In 1956, at the 4th Party Congress in

Palghat Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

BTR was again included in the Central Committee. He became a leading figure of the leftist section of the CC. At the time of the Indo-China border conflict in 1962, Ranadive was one of many prominent communist leaders jailed by the government. In 1964 he became one of the main leaders of

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

. At the founding conference of the

Centre of Indian Trade Unions Centre of Indian Trade Unions, CITU is a National level Trade Union in India and its trade union wing is a spearhead of the Indian Trade Union Movement. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions is today one of biggest assemblies of workers and classe ...

May 28–31 1970, Ranadive was elected president.

Commemoration

The central building of CITU in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

is named after him— ''BTR Bhavan''. Akg-btr

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranadive, B.T. Indian independence activists Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Maharashtra Trade unionists from Maharashtra Marathi politicians 1904 births 1990 deaths