Singh supported the line of annihilations of class enemies of Charu Majumdar, and implemented it to a certain degree in Musahari and other areas in Bihar.[4] However he disagreed with Majumdar on the issue of killing rich peasants.[4] In 1968-1969 the Musahari Naxalite movement grew from seizures of food crops to guerrilla struggle and killings of landlords. By May 1969 the movement encompassed 50,000 people.[5] As of 1969 Singh argued that rejection of the annihilation line meant advocating co-existence between landlords and the village peasantry.[5] Singh recorded his analysis of this phase of struggle in the document Musahari and its lessons.[6]
Singh emerged as the leader of dissent inside the party against the party general secretary Majumdar. By July 1970 he had rejected Majumdar's policy on annihilation as 'individual terrorism'.[7] In September 1970 Singh charged the CPI(ML) Central Committee with following a left sectarian line.[1] Singh led the revolt against Majumdar inside the CPI(ML), setting up a parallel Central Committee.[8] In November 1971 the new Central Committee officially declared Majumdar expelled from the party for having adopted a 'Trotskyist adventurist line' and elected Singh as the new general secretary.[9][10] His party would be known as the Provisional Central Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), and would reject Majumdar's annihilation line.[1][11]
With the lifting of the Emergency in 1977 Singh began to favour a more conciliatory approach to the state, for example negotiating for the release of prisoners.[13] In the same year Singh's CPI(ML) decided to participate in elections for the first time.[14] Singh's CPI(ML) presented three candidates in West Bengal, one in Bihar and one in Punjab.[15] For the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly election, Singh toured ten constituencies during the electoral campaign.[14]
Satyanarayan Singh died in a cardiac attack in 1984.[16] A few months before his death, his party had split with most of the Provisional Central Committee members siding with Vaskar Nandy.[17]
