Bankim Mukherjee (c. 1896–1961) was an Indian Bengali communist politician. He had taken part in the

Civil Disobedience Movement Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". ...

, the Indian Communist movement and had organized various trade unions and Kisan sabhas (Farmers' organization). His wife Shanta Bhalerao was the Assistant Secretary of

All India Trade Union Congress The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) is the oldest trade union federation in India. It is associated with the Communist Party of India. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, AITUC had a membership of 14.2 mil ...

. Mukherjee became political active in the 1920s, taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement and jute mill workers union struggles in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. In 1921 Mukherjee went to

Etawah Etawah (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Iṭāvā''), also known as Ishtikapuri, is a city situated on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawa ...

with his friend Radharaman Mitra and participated in

Non-cooperation movement Non-cooperation movement may refer to: * Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922), during the Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi against British rule * Non-cooperation movement (1971), a movement in East Pakistan * Non-cooperatio ...

. They were arrested and imprisoned. After being released from jail. he returned to Bengal following the order of

Motilal Nehru Motilal Nehru (6 May 1861 – 6 February 1931) was an Indian lawyer, activist, and politician affiliated with the Indian National Congress. He served as the Congress President twice, from 1919 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1929. He was a patriarch ...

and started working for Congress Swaraj Party. He got attracted to communism after meeting Bhupendranath Dutta. He got involved in farmers and workers movement. He had organized worker strikes with Abdul Momin (Trade union activist) and Abdur Rezzak Khan. He became a member of the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

in 1936. In 1937 he was elected to the

Bengal Legislative Assembly The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislatures of British India, legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal Presidency, Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It ...

, becoming the first member of the Communist Party of India to be elected to legislature. After the First All India Congress of CPI in 1943, he was elected the President of

All India Kisan Sabha All India Kisan Sabha ( AIKS; lit. ''All India Farmers Union'', also known as the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha) is the peasant or farmers' wing of the Communist Party of India, an important peasant movement formed by Sahajanand Saraswati in 19 ...

. He also served as vice-president and general secretary of the

. He was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from

Budge Budge Budge Budge () is a city and a municipality of South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Geography Area overview Alipore Sadar subdiv ...

in 1952 and 1957. He died on 15 November 1961 at the age of 64.

References

Communist Party of India politicians from West Bengal West Bengal MLAs 1951–1957 1890s births 1961 deaths Bengal MLAs 1937–1945 West Bengal MLAs 1957–1962 {{WestBengal-politician-stub