Chitta Basu (25 December 1926 – 5 October 1997) was an Indian politician and a leader of the

All India Forward Bloc The All India Forward Bloc ( AIFB) is a Left-wing nationalism, left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a Political faction, faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose, and was strongest ...

. He served as the General Secretary of the party from 1979 till his death in 1997. In his obituary, ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'' described Basu as belonging to the rare tribe of politicians who did politics for a cause and practiced what they preached.

Barasat Barasat () is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of Barasat Sadar subdivision. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (K ...

was his Indian Parliamentary constituency for over two decades.

Education

Basu graduated from Daulatpur College in Khulna district (

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

). He later earned his master's from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

Political life

Chitta Basu joined the Forward Bloc formed by

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...

in 1939, after Bose resigned from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. Basu worked for the party since he had joined it as a promising student leader in 1945. He rose to become the party's youth wing, All-India Yuba League's general secretary in 1947–48. After India's partition, Basu immersed himself in refugee rehabilitation work. In 1972, he became the party's central committee member and then the general secretary in March 1979, after the 10th Party Congress succeeding R. K. Haldulkar, a post that he held until his death. In 1957, Basu was first elected to the West Bengal state legislative assembly from

of the then undivided 24

Pargana Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...

s district. In 1966, he became a member of the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

. He was elected to the

6th Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. The 6th Lok Sabha, which ran from 23 March 1977 to 22 August 1979 was elected in February and March 1977. 11 sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected to 6th ...

from

constituency in 1977, before getting re-elected in 1980, 1989, 1991 and 1996 from the same constituency. In 1996, he became a member of the United Front steering committee. Basu was one of the

leaders who struggled for the party's survival immediately after independence; other political parties (particularly Left and a section of Indian socialists) abused the Forward Bloc over Bose's alliance with the Axis.

Death

Basu died of a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

on the

Howrah Howrah (; ; alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, opposite to its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively ...

-bound Danapur Express between Madhupur and Jasidih railway stations in

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

in the early morning of 5 October 1997. He was returning to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

after attending an anti-

Lalu Prasad Yadav Lalu Prasad (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Bihar from 1990 to 1997 with a brief interruption in 1995 and as the union minister for Railways from 2004 to 2009. He is the founder and president o ...

rally organised by a 17-party left and democratic front in

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

. Travelling alone in an AC first class coupe, he complained of abdominal pain to a railway attendant soon after the train left Patna. Soon, a wireless message was sent to the Jhajha station, before he was examined and given medication. He was found dead at around 2:30 a.m. ( IST) when doctors boarded the train to check his condition at the Madhupur station.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Basu, Chitta 1926 births 1997 deaths Politicians from Dhaka All India Forward Bloc politicians India MPs 1977–1979 India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 West Bengal MLAs 1957–1962 Lok Sabha members from West Bengal Rajya Sabha members from West Bengal University of Calcutta alumni Politicians from North 24 Parganas district People from Barasat Sadar subdivision

Education

Political life

Death

See also

References

External links