Bansi Satpute, CPI nominee from the Shirdi Lok Sabha seat, is attempting to not only revive the once powerful Communist movement in the state, but also to ensure that the memory of senior party leader Govind Pansare stays alive. Satpute is the nephew of the leader who was shot dead in Kolhapur in 2015 by assailants who are still at large.

Satpute said that if he's elected, he would work on proscribing the Right-wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha whose members are allegedly responsible for Pansare's death. "I aim to fight the prevailing social and political situation created by the RSS's agenda," said Satpute, adding that if he's elected, he would work for the social security of the unorganised sector's labourers.

The CPI's failure in entering into an alliance with the Congress and NCP meant it's contesting the polls alone, and Satpute will be up against incumbent Sena MP Sadashiv Lokhande and Congress candidate Bhausaheb Kamble. He says he resents the Congress for not banning the Sanstha. "The Congress didn't try to ban it. There seemed to be two opinions within the party," he said, claiming that this was because the party wanted to embrace "soft Hindutva". He further rued that the Congress didn't work towards consolidating anti-BJP parties.

Pansare, whose daughter Smita is married to Satpute, hails from Kolar village in Ahmednagar's Rahata taluka. In Shirdi, CPI has one Zilla Parishad member and few sarpanchs (village heads). The CPI once had a strong base in Ahmednagar district, in which the constituency falls, especially in areas like Akole

In 2014, the CPI fought from four constituencies—South Mumbai, Bhiwandi, Gadchiroli and Parbhani. This time, they are contesting two—Shirdi and Parbhani, with farmer leader Rajan Kshirsagar being their nominee from the later.

The CPI, which is the oldest communist party in India, was once a strong political force in Maharashtra, with leaders like S.A Dange and S.S Mirajkar. However, the split in the undivided CPI in 1964 and gradual weakening of the working class movement has weakened the Parliamentary Left. In the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections, the CPI fought 33 seats and lost all of them.

The last CPI MP was Sudamkaka Deshmukh from Amravati in 1989. Madhavrao Gaikwad from Manmad and Namdeorao Kale from Wani were the last CPI nominees to be elected to the assembly in 1995.