Kanai Pal was an Indian

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

politician. A labour leader active in

Santipur Santipur is a city and a municipality in the Ranaghat subdivision of Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The fort area of this city, also known as Daak-Garh (calling or gathering room) is thought to have been built by Raja Krish ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

, he represented the area in the state legislature 1962–1969.

Independence struggle

As a politician, Pal was known to be self-sacrificing and sincere. He was jailed a number of times. Pal took part in the struggle for Indian independence and was convicted during the 1942

Quit India movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

. He played a leading role in sabotage action group in

Nadia District Nadia () is a district in the state of West Bengal, India. It borders Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Purba Bardhaman to the west, and Murshidabad to the north. Nadia district is highly influentia ...

. In one confrontation during the August Revolution his

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the spi ...

was badly injured. He later lost a finger in police lathi charge in protest for right for refugees from the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

1952 elections and break with the RCPI

At the time of the 1951–1952 elections, Pal was a member of the Tagore faction of the Revolutionary Communist Party of India. He donated all his personal belongings, estimated at 15,000

Indian rupee The Indian rupee ( symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use wh ...

s, to the party. Pal contested the Santipur constituency in the

1952 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election The West Bengal State Assembly Election of 1952 was a part of the series of Legislative Assembly elections in 1952. Alliances On the political left, two alliances had emerged the United Socialist Organisation of India (an alliance between th ...

on a RCPI ticket and finished in second place with 4,564 votes (21.43% of the votes in the constituency).Election Commission of India.
STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1951 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL
' He finished in fourth place with 2,920 votes (6.9%). However, Pal and his followers split away from the Tagore faction of RCPI in 1953. Pal was disappointed with the lack of support from the party during his election campaign. Pal's Santipur-based faction merged into the United Marxist League in 1954, which soon renamed itself as the Communist League. Pal again contested the Santipur seat in the

1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election The West Bengal state assembly election of 1957 was part of a series of state assembly elections in 1957. State Reorganization On 1 November 1956, under States Reorganisation Act, 1956, a portion of the Purnea district east of the river Maha ...

, this time on an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

ticket. He finished in second place with 13,470 votes (36.78%).Election Commission of India.
STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1957 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL
' In 1958 the Communist League merged into the Revolutionary Workers Party.Alexander, Robert J..
Trotskyism in India
' The RWP merged into the Dasgupta-led RCPI in 1960.

Legislator and prisoner

Pal won the Santipur seat in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in the

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

and

1967 elections Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establ ...

. In 1962 he ran as an

. With 26,553 votes (53.80%) he defeated the incumbent

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

legislator Haridas De.Election Commission of India.
STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1962 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL
' Soon after being elected, on 6 November 1962 he was jailed under the West Bengal Security Act. He was again arrested in 1965, under the Defense of India Rules. In December 1965 the Fourth International Congress elected Pal, along with other jailed Trotskyist leaders as member of its 'honorary presidium'. In 1967 he contested on a

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 ...

ticket. He retained the seat, obtaining 20,695 votes (47.63%).Election Commission of India.
STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1967 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL
'

Later years

In the

1969 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election Elections were held in Indian state of West Bengal in February 1969 to elect 280 members to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. United Front formed the government with Ajoy Mukherjee as the Chief Minister. United Front won a landslide 214 seats ...

Pal ran as an independent in Santipur, against the official RCPI candidate M. Mokshed Ali.Election Commission of India.
STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1969 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL
' He finished in third place with 3289 votes (7.15%). In the

1971 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1971. The assembly election was held alongside the 1971 Indian general election. Parties and coalitions Ahead of the 1971 election the map of party coalitions was r ...

Pal ran as an independent in Santipur, against the official RCPI candidate

Bimalananda Mukherjee Bimalananda Mukherjee was an Indian politician, belonging to the Revolutionary Communist Party of India. Mukherjee was arrested during the 1959 Food Movement struggle, along with other left leaders. As of 1960 he was the editor of ''Janasadharan ...

.Election Commission of India.
STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1971 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL
' He finished in fourth place with 2,920 votes (6.9%). In 1972 he played a role building the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) in

.Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights.
About Us
' Pal died, having suffered from kidney failure, anemia, high blood pressure and paralysis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pal, Kanai Revolutionary Communist Party of India politicians West Bengal MLAs 1962–1967 West Bengal MLAs 1967–1969 Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from West Bengal