Shantaram Savlaram Mirajkar (8 February 1899 – 15 February 1980) 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 unionist. He was part of the old guard of the

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 ...

, led the All India Trade Union Congress as its president for many years and served as mayor of Bombay.

Early communist movement in India

In the early 1920s, Mirajkar, S. A. Dange, and S. V. Ghate constituted the early communist leadership that emerged within India, and who resented the role played the emigre leadership who formed the

in Tashkent in 1920. He began organizing trade unions of textile workers in Bombay. When the Workers and Peasants Party was founded in Bombay in January 1927, Mirajkar became its general secretary.M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. ''Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal''. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 93 Mirajkar was tried and convicted in the

Meerut Conspiracy Case The Meerut Conspiracy Case was a controversial court case that was initiated in British Raj in March 1929 and decided in 1933. Several trade unionists, including three Englishmen, were arrested for organizing an Indian railway strike. The Br ...

In 1940–1941, Mirajkar was detained at Deoli Detention Camp in Ajmer-Merwara.''FRONTLINE''.
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' He was arrested again in August 1949, along with many other communist trade unionists.

AITUC president and mayor

Mirajkar served as President of the All India Trade Union Congress between 1957 and 1973. Mirajkar was elected mayor of Bombay in 1958.

CPI split and later years

When the so-called "Dange Letters" surfaced in 1964, Mirajkar affirmed that they were authentic. Mirajkar would side with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the 1964 CPI split. However, Mirajkar's decision to side with the left in the CPI split was not an issue of ideology, but of personal conflict with S. A. Dange. Prior to the split Mirajkar had belonged to the Dange-led right-wing faction in the party. When the CPI(M) Politburo called for a boycott of the January 1970 AITUC session in

Guntur Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...

, Mirajkar refused to comply with the party directive and participated anyway. Mirajkar was subsequently expelled from CPI(M). He rejoined the CPI in 1973, persuaded by C. Rajeswara Rao. He retired as AITUC President in 1973, and was succeeded by Dr. Ranen Sen. Mirajkar died in a Bombay nursing home on 15 February 1980, at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirajkar, SS 1980 deaths Indian trade union leaders Mayors of Mumbai Communist Party of India politicians from Maharashtra 1899 births Indian independence activists Prisoners and detainees of British India