Vinod Mishra

Vinod Mishra (विनोद मिश्रा; 24 March 1947 – 18 December 1998) was an Indian communist politician.

The family moved to Kanpur in 1955.

Mishra studied at Adarsh Banga Vidyalaya Inter College.

Later he graduated from Kanyakubja Degree College and was admitted at the Christ Church Degree College for post-graduate studies in Mathematics.

He went on to study at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Regional Engineering College in Durgapur in 1966.

Mishra became associated with a group of leftwing students, who soon developed linkages to the AICCCR.

Mishra led student rallies and a campus strike.

By mid-1969 he had become a professional revolutionary.

Mishra became the secretary of the Durgapur Local Organising Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (formed out of the AICCCR) in the early 1970s.

However, he was arrested (along with Mahadev Mukherjee).

After having pass a period at Asansol hospital following brutal beatings by the police, he was sent to the Baharampur Central Jail.

Mishra continued to conduct political activities inside the prison.

He was unconditionally released from prison on 20 June 1972 as one year without trial had passed.

However, his release arose suspicion in the CPI(ML).

He was deployed to a remote village in the Agradwip area of Burdwan district.

Along with Kartik Paul, he organized a peasants movement in the district.

At the same time, chaos reigned in the CPI(ML).

Mishra and Pal were included in the Burdwan Regional Committee of the party.

In 1973 the CPI(ML) was split, with one group led by Sharma and another by Mahadev Mukherjee.

Mishra initially belonged to Mukherjee's party, but he and the Burdwan Regional Committee broke with Mukherjee in September 1973.

Mishra sought contact with the Sharma group, but the Burdwan Regional Committee was later divided and Mishra denounced the political line of Sharma (a critique, which amongst other things, called for the formation of open mass organizations, a move that almost constituted a heresy in the CPI(ML) movement at the time).

In 1974 Mishra came into contact with Subrata Dutta (Jauhar), a leader of armed struggle in the plain areas of Bihar.

On 28 July 1974 (the second death anniversary of Charu Majumdar) a new party Central Committee was formed with Jauhar as General Secretary and Mishra and Swadesh Bhattacharya (Raghu) as members.

The reorganized party became known as the 'anti-Lin Biao' group (whilst the faction of Mahadev Mukherjee constituted the 'pro-Lin Biao' group).

The party would also become known as the CPI(ML) Liberation.

Mishra served as West Bengal secretary of the new party organization.

Under Mishra's leadership new dalams (guerilla squads) were formed.

Mishra served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation between 1975 and 1998.

Mishra was born to Suryakesh Mishra in Jabalpur.

In November 1975 Jauhar was killed.

Mishra became the new party General Secretary in a reorganized five-member Central Committee.

Mishra organized a second party congress, held clandestinely in the rural areas of Gaya district in February 1976.

The congress unanimously re-elected Mishra as General Secretary.

On 1–2 January 1979 Mishra was encircled by police forces at Badpathujote in the Phansidewa area of Darjeeling district.

In the midst of a prolonged gun-battle, Mishra sustained multiple injuries and his comrade Bakul Sen (alias Amal) was killed.

Mishra was able to escape, assisted by the dalam commander Nemu Singh.

Mishra secretly visited China in 1979.

After the 11 July 1996 massacre in Bathani Tola, in which 21 Dalits were killed by Ranvir Sena, Mishra declared an 'eye for an eye' policy of vengeance against the perpetrators of the massacre.

Mishra was re-elected General Secretary of the party at the sixth congress of CPI(ML) Liberation in Varanasi in October 1997.

Mishra was the political architect of the process of re-orientation of CPI(ML) Liberation.