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{{for|the CPI politician|Santosh Rana (CPI)}}
{{Short description|Indian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Santosh Rana
| image = https://goo.gl/images/d4RY7E
| caption =
| birth_date = 1942
| birth_place = Gopiballavpur, West Bengal, India
| residence =
| death_date = {{death date and given age|2019|6|29|76|df=y}}
| death_place =
| office1 = [[Member of Legislative Assembly (India)|Member]] of the [[West Bengal Legislative Assembly]]
| predecessor1 =
| successor1 =
| prime minister1 =
| president1 =
| office2 =
| constituency1 = [[Gopiballavpur (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Gopiballavpur]]
| term_start1 = 1977
| term_end1 = 1982
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| prime minister2 =
| president2 =
| party = [[Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)]] (1969-1972)
[[PCC, CPI(ML)]] (1972-2016) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://m.timesofindia.com/city/kolkata/CPIML-MLA-Santosh-Rana-quits-party/amp_articleshow/50986771.cms|title=CPI(ML) MLA Santosh Rana quits party|website=Times of India|access-date=14 February 2016}}</ref>
| spouse = Jayarsri (divorced)
| college =
| children = 1
| alma_mater= [[Presidency College, Kolkata|Presidency College]], [[University of Calcutta]], Raja Bazar Science College
| faculty =
| website =
| date = |
| year = |
| source =
}}

'''Santosh Rana''' (1942 – 29 June 2019) was an Indian politician. In the 1960s, he was a firebrand figure in the armed struggle of the [[Naxalite]]s led by [[Charu Majumdar]]. Rana received [[Ananda Puraskar]] for his book ''Rajnitir Ek Jibon'' in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.anandabazar.com/state/west-bengal-news-santosh-rana-s-rajnitir-ek-jibon-honored-with-ananda-purashkar-1.774498|title=উত্তাল রাজনীতির অকপট স্মৃতিকে আনন্দ-অভিবাদন|website=anandabazar.com|access-date=28 April 2018}}</ref>

==Agrarian revolutionary==
In the 1960s, Santosh Rana was a research scholar at [[University of Calcutta]], Rajabazar Science College. He was preparing for his PhD in physics. Politically he was a supporter of the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)|CPI(M)]]. The first [[United Front (1967)|United Front]] government came to power in West Bengal in 1967 and in 1969 [[Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)|CPI(ML)]] heralded the launch of a new revolutionary party. The call of revolution inspired Santosh Rana. He left his PhD unfinished, returned to his village in Gopiballavpur and joined the agrarian revolution.<ref name=rana1>{{cite web| url = http://blogger-source.blogspot.com/2011/04/santosh-rana-firebrand-naxal-leader-of.html|title = Santosh Rana| first=Arindam |last= Chaudhuri| publisher = |access-date = 2011-05-19 }}</ref><ref name=karat>{{cite web| url = http://cpim.org/marxist/198501_marxist_naxalism_Prakash.htm |title = Naxalism Today; At an Ideological {{sic|nolink=y|Deadend}} | first=Prakash |last= Karat| work = The Marxist, Vol. 3, no. 1, January–March 1985 |access-date = 2011-05-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.littlemag.com/security/santoshrana.html|title = Democracy spells security| publisher =the little magazine |access-date = 2011-05-19 }}</ref>

Under his leadership, [[Debra, Paschim Medinipur|Debra]], Gopiballavpur, [[Nayagram]] and [[Lodhasuli]] blocks of [[Midnapore district]] and adjoining areas in [[Bihar]] (now [[Jharkhand]]) and [[Orissa]] were 'virtually liberated'. In an interview Santosh Rana said, "In the seventies, we began our work not in forest areas like Nayagram, Binpur or Lalgarh. But mainly in densely populated Debra-Gopiballavpur along the bank of Subarnarekha river where class contradictions were sharp over land and wage questions. We endeared ourselves to poor peasants and landless by focusing on land issues as well as exploitation by the money-lenders." He recollects, "During my time, a mass of about 15,000 to 20,000 people, armed with [[Fighting stick|lathis]], stormed into the houses of the landlords who possessed firearms, and seized the arms. That was a big blow for the landlords or [[jotdar]]s and they failed to resist our move to grab ceiling-excess land and distribute it among the landless [[bargadar]]s. This was not violence, it was people’s revolt. Such pressure is always required in remote villages where landlords maintain personal armies."<ref name=rana1/><ref name=rana2>{{cite web| url = http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv15/interviewsr.htm |title = interview with Santosh Rana | publisher = Seminar, March 2010 (issue on Red Resurgence) |access-date = 2011-05-19 }}</ref>

==CPI(ML) reorganisation ==
The CPI(ML) movement began to splinter by the early seventies and by 1971-72, it was in shambles. Santosh Rana broke with Charu Majumdar in 1971 and later joined the group led by Satyanarayan Singh, a prominent leader, who also rebelled against Charu Majumdar in 1971, leading to a split in the CPI(ML). In April 1973 Satyanarayan Singh’s party was reorganized. The [[Provisional Central Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)|PCC, CPI(ML)]] evolved out of the group loyal to [[Satyanarayan Singh (Bihar politician, died 1984)|Satyanarayan Singh]]. Subsequently, Santosh Rana became general secretary of this party. This faction was amongst the earliest Naxalites to take part in elections.<ref name=karat/><ref>{{cite web| url = http://list-naxal.blogspot.com/ |title = List of Major Naxalist Parties in India| first= |last= | work =Provisional Central Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) | publisher = |access-date = 2011-05-19 }}</ref>

==Electoral efforts==
Santosh Rana, contesting as an independent, won the [[Gopiballavpur (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Gopiballavpur]] seat in 1977, but lost it in 1982.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://eci.nic.in/archive/ElectionAnalysis/AE/S25/Partycomp230.htm |title = 230 - Gopiballavpur Assembly Constituency |work = Partywise Comparison Since 1977 | publisher = Election Commission of India|access-date = 2010-12-20 }}</ref>

==Maoists==
Santosh Rana disagreed with the actions of the [[Communist Party of India (Maoist)|Maoists]] in the [[Jungle Mahals]]. He said, "Differences between the original CPI(ML) and today’s CPI(Maoist) are too many. Despite our criticism of Charu Majumdar’s line of annihilation campaign, I must point out that he never asked us for indiscriminate killings like today’s Maoists. In 1969-71, I was active in Debra-Gopiballavpur region, close to Lalgarh, now a major base of the Maoists. We killed around 120 people, most of them landlords or their henchmen … Today, I feel most of these killings were unnecessary. But unlike the CPI(Maoist), we killed not a single tribal, Dalit and poor people in the seventies in Debra-Gopiballavpur."<ref name=rana2/>

He further says, "The CPI(ML) is alarmed at the situation in Jangalmahal where in some areas armed CPI(M) supporters are capturing villages with the help of Joint Forces while in others, the Trinamool Congress is capturing villages with the help of Maoist squads. None of them has any respect for the democratic rights of the people. The CPI(ML) has been active in the area for over forty years and led innumerable struggles of the workers, peasants, Dalits and Adivasis on the issues of wages, land, irrigation, forest rights and Dalit-Adivasi rights. In recent times, it has organized the people against atrocities by Joint Forces and against pollution of sponge iron factories."<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.radicalsocialist.in/articles/statement-radical-socialist/news/223-statement-of-santosh-rana-general-secretary-of-pcc-cpiml-on-jangalmahal |title = Statement of Santosh Rana, General Secretary of PCC CPI(ML) on Jangalmahal| first= |last= | publisher = Radical Socialist 29 August 2010 |access-date = 2011-05-19 }}</ref>

==References==
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{{West Bengal Legislative Assembly4}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rana, Santosh}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Debt bondage in India]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation politicians]]
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1977–1982]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian male writers]]

Santosh Rana - Revision history

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