Vishnu Damodar Chitale (1906–1961) was an Indian freedom fighter, nationalist and prominent leader 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 ...

Poona Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

city. He was a staunch opponent of British imperialism in India. He was also a Sanskrit scholar. Chitale was born on 4 January 1906. Better known as 'Bhai Chitale', he completed his B.A. in 1929 from Pune. He could not complete his Masters of Law degree; as he focused his attention on national movements. He participated in the freedom struggle orchestrated by the Congress and came into contact with Marxist literature. He become a member of the Communist Party but continued to participate in the Congress movements. He gave priority to the work of the interest of farmers and labourers. He took an active part in the

Salt Satyagraha The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

. He was also elected a member of the All India Congress Committee. At the 1940 Ramgarh session of the Indian National Congress, Chitale and fellow communist delegate

K.M. Ashraf Ashraf Ali Khan (1898-1975) also known as Kunwar Mohammad Ashraf Ali Khan was an Indian National Congress politician and independence activist from Sadabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. He was zamindar of Sadabad and also known as Nawab of Sadabad. ...

proposed an amendment to the main resolution, calling for 'immediate launching of the struggle' for independence and rejecting any compromise with British rule. Chitale led the third 1955

satyagrah Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone ...

to Goa, leading a thousand volunteers in a march to demand integration of Portuguese-controlled Goa with India. Portuguese military forces opened fire, injuring Chitale among many others. Chitale was elected to the

Bombay Legislative Assembly Bombay Legislative Assembly came into existence in 1937, as the legislature of Bombay Presidency, a province of British India. It functioned until 1960, when separate states of Maharashtra and Gujarat were formed. History The first session of thi ...

in the 1957 election, from the Kasba Peth constituency. He was part of the

Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti Samyukta Maharashtra Movement ( mr, संयुक्त महाराष्ट्र चळवळ), commonly known as the Samiti, was an organisation in India that advocated for a separate Marathi-speaking state in Western India and Centra ...

bloc in the Legislative Assembly. He died in 1961.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chitale, Vishnu 1906 births 1961 deaths Communist Party of India politicians from Maharashtra Goa liberation activists