A stalwart of the Left movement in India’s Hindi-speaking regions. He led many movements from students to farmers and agricultural workers and also got elected to the Bihar legislative assembly twice. He challenged the feudal practices within his own household as well as outside in the society. Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi was a true communist who believed that we must struggle hard to bring the class forces on our side to create a better world for everyone. He firmly believed in redistribution of land and voluntarily gave away his land to the agricultural women workers.

In this conversation, Subhashini Ali, member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and an activist of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), talks on the debates over the Mandal Commission inside and outside the parliament as well as the Indian Left’s understanding of caste-class relations and its long history of fighting against the caste oppression. She also talks about the formation of Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch (DSMM) in this interview.