Draft:Ajit Nawale

Dr. Ajit Nawale
Dr. Ajit Nawale
Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist), Maharashtra
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 1 March 2025
Preceded by	Uday Narkar
Personal details
Born	Nawalewadi, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India
Political party	Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Spouse	Dr. Archana Nawale
Occupation	Politician

Ajit Nawale is an Indian peasants activist, communist politician and a former Ayurvedic practitioner. He is serving as the secretary of Maharashtra state unit of Communist Party of India (Marxist) since 1 March 2025.^[1]^[2] He is also one of the national joint secretaries of All India Kisan Sabha.^[3]

Early life and education

Ajit Nawale was born into a family in Nawalewadi, a village in Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra. His father, a former clerk in a sugar factory, took up farming after retirement.^[4] He is the grandson of Bhuva Nawale who was the first President of the Maharashtra unit of All India Kisan Sabha, elected at its founding conference in Titwala in 1945.^[5]

Nawale completed his Class XII in 1994, securing 91% marks. Despite his aspiration to pursue MBBS, he could not secure a seat in the unreserved category. Instead, he enrolled in the Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) program at Ashtang Ayurveda College in Pune.^[6] He completed his course in 2001 and returned to his hometown, where he established his own hospital, Aruna Hospital.^[7]^[8]

Student activism

Ajit Nawale became actively involved in student activism, engaging with multiple political and ideological groups.^[9] He initially founded the Yuva Kranti Forum (lit. 'Youth Revolution Forum') which focused on addressing student issues such as hostel accommodations and scholarships, as well as broader concerns affecting farmers and children.^[10]

Nawale's activism drew the attention of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader, leading him to collaborate with its student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, and associate with Sambhaji Nagar (Deccan Gymkhana) shakha in Pune.^[11]

When Ayurveda students protested against the Economically Backward Class (EBC) scholarship discontinuation, Nawale and others found support from Students Federation of India. Recognizing the need for collective efforts to resolve student issues, he joined SFI-led protests while continuing his engagement with ABVP, prioritizing issues over ideology.^[12]

Later, ABVP and SFI jointly demanded a separate Ayurveda university and other student concerns. During a protest against Shiv Sena-BJP government at Hutatma Chowk, Nawale was arrested. While ABVP did not intervene, SFI helped secure his release, a turning point that led him to align more closely with SFI.^[13]

After returning his hometown in 2001, he established a local unit of the SFI while continuing his activism alongside his professional work.

Leadership in peasants movements

With the mentorship of Ashok Dhawale, Nawale joined All India Kisan Sabha in 2005 and began taking up issues related to milk, onion, sugar, Below Poverty Line (BPL) ration cards at local level.^[14] He was inducted into AIKS Maharashtra state committee in 2007.^[15]

In 2016, AIKS held a protest with about 1 lakh people over issues of forest land, minimum support price (MSP) and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report. From 1 June to 11 June 2017, Nawale spearheaded a farmers' agitation demanding a full loan waiver, MSP at 1.5 times production cost, and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report with some other issues.^[16]^[17] Farmers stopped milk, fruit and vegetable supplies, prompting government negotiations.^[18] A 17 membered delegation met Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on the night of June 2/3. According to AIKS sources, Nawale was the only one in the delegation who strongly argued against withdrawing the strike, as key demands like loan waiver and fair prices remained unmet. It was reported that Fadnavis branded him as a ‘disruptive Communist’. The delegation walked out of the meeting and Nawale called the Chief Minister 'the government’s bluff'.^[19] On June 4, the old core committee for discussions with the CM was dissolved anda new 35-member Coordination Committee was formed, with Ajit Nawale as the convenor.^[20] The state-wide bandh on 5 June which was called by leaders like Ashok Dhawale, Ajit Nawale on 3 June garnered garnered mass approval.

Nawale was included in the loan waiver steering committee but, dissatisfied with its framework, continued leading protests at district and taluka levels.

References

^ "माकपच्या राज्य अधिवेशनाचा सेलूत समारोप ; राज्यसचिवपदी कॉ. अजीत नवले यांची निवड".
^ "भारताचा कम्युनिस्ट पक्ष (मार्क्सवादी) चे २४ वे राज्य अधिवेशन संपन्न !". Facebook. कॉ. डॉ. अजित नवले — यांची राज्य सचिवपदी एकमताने निवड. त्यांचे व नवनिर्वाचित राज्य समितीचे हार्दिक अभिनंदन व पुढील वाटचालीस क्रांतिकारी सदिच्छा!
^ "LEADERSHIP ELECTED AT THE 35th CONFERENCE". All India Kisan Sabha.
^ "Maharashtra farmer march: Once RSS, now leftist, Ayurveda practitioner Ajit Nawale who led protest". 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Nawale, who runs his hospital in Nawalewadi of Ahmednagar district, is the son of a former clerk in a sugar factory who took to farming after retirement.
^ "Maharashtra Farmers' Movement: Four Leaders You Need to Know About", NewsClick, 12 March 2018, Nawale is the grandson of Bhuva Nawale, who was elected as the first President of the Maharashtra unit of the AIKS when it was formed in the State in 1945 at a large conference at Titwala.
^ "Maharashtra farmer march: Once RSS, now leftist, Ayurveda practitioner Ajit Nawale who led protest". 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. He had wanted to study MBBS. He says he scored 91% in class XII in 1994, but it was not enough for a seat in the unreserved category. After joining BAMS, he soon ventured into activism.
^ "Aruna Hospital Dr Ajit Nawale". Justdial.
^ "In stir's 2nd phase, a 40-yr-old carves out a niche". 11 June 2017. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. "I only wanted to ensure that we shared with farmers what the government had to offer and call off the strike only after getting their feedback. This, however, did not happen," says Nawale, an Ayurvedic doctor, who runs a small hospital in Akole Taluka in Ahmednagar district.
^ "Meet the 51-yr-old ayurveda doctor who is behind the long march by tribal farmers". 28 April 2023. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. He is an ayurveda doctor who dabbled in politics on both sides during his student days – the Left and Right.
^ "Maharashtra farmer march: Once RSS, now leftist, Ayurveda practitioner Ajit Nawale who led protest". 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. "I started Yuva Kranti Forum to take up issues for farmers; children and help them find hostel accommodation, get scholarships etc," Nawale said.
^ "Maharashtra farmer march: Once RSS, now leftist, Ayurveda practitioner Ajit Nawale who led protest". 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. This was when caught the notice of the RSS. "A person from the RSS got in touch with me and I started working with the Sambhaji Nagar (Deccan Gymkahan) shakha in Pune. I also worked with ABVP," he said.
^ "Maharashtra farmer march: Once RSS, now leftist, Ayurveda practitioner Ajit Nawale who led protest". 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. We thought it would not possible for a single organisation to get students' issues resolved, so we held joint protests with the SFI.
^ "Maharashtra farmer march: Once RSS, now leftist, Ayurveda practitioner Ajit Nawale who led protest". 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. He then started working with the SFI.
^ "Maharashtra Farmers' Movement: Four Leaders You Need to Know About", NewsClick, 12 March 2018, After that life-changing conversation, Ashok Dhawale and Ajit Nawale kept in touch continuously, and with Dhawale's mentorship, Ajit Nawale became a committed activist and leader of the Kisan Sabha.
^ "Maharashtra farmer march: Once RSS, now leftist, Ayurveda practitioner Ajit Nawale who led protest". 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. "In 2005, I joined the All India Kisan Sabha and started taking up issues relating to milk, onion, sugar, BPL rations cards with others at local level," said Nawale, who became a member of the AIKS state committee in 2007.
^ "THE MASSIVE PEASANT STRUGGLES IN MAHARASHTRA – All India Kisan Sabha". 9 October 2017. The unprecedented peasant strike in Maharashtra from June 1 to 11, 2017, with farmers refusing to get their produce like milk, vegetables and fruits to the market, was truly a historic struggle. The two cardinal demands of the strike were peasant loan waiver and implementation of the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) that was headed by Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, particularly the one about setting the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops to cover the cost of production plus fifty per cent profit. Other demands included increase in the price of milk paid to the farmer; pension to peasants and agricultural workers above the age of 60 years; waiving of arrears of electricity bills; and increased irrigation facilities. Some other demands that have been raised are to stop the conspiracy of snatching farmers' lands in the name of the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Highway and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor; scrapping of the pro-corporate Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and providing comprehensive insurance security to all farmers.
^ "Maharashtra farmers' protest: The men behind the Long March | mumbai news | Hindustan Times". In June 2017, Nawale was the driving force behind the farmers' agitation that eventually led the chief minister to announce a farm loan waiver scheme. Then, farmers had sought complete loan waiver and an assured minimum support price for crops that is 1.5 times the cost of production, besides implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report.
^ "Maharashtra farmer march: Once RSS, now leftist, Ayurveda practitioner Ajit Nawale who led protest". 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Last June, he was part of a farmers' strike that stopped milk and vegetable supply demanding a loan waiver.
^ "In stir's 2nd phase, a 40-yr-old carves out a niche". 11 June 2017. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017.
^ Ashok Dhawale. "The Kisan Long March in Maharashtra" (PDF). Due to his role in opposing this sell-out at that meeting, AIKS State General Secretary Dr. Ajit Nawale was elected Convenor of the Coordination Committee of Farmers' Organizations.