Dr. Dhirendranath Banerjee was an Indian politician and physician. He was a founding member of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and an elected parliamentarian. Banerjee became involved in political struggles during the 1921

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 ...

. He studied at

Rajshahi College Rajshahi College (Bengali language, Bengali: রাজশাহী কলেজ) is a public college, public educational institution in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Established in 1873, it is the third oldest college in Bangladesh after Dhaka College a ...

, where he befriended members of the

Anushilan Samiti () was an Indian fitness club, which was actually used as an underground society for anti-British revolutionaries. In the first quarter of the 20th century it supported revolutionary violence as the means for ending British rule in India. The ...

. He became an active member of the Anushilan Samiti resistance movement in the struggle for Indian independence. Banerjee graduated from Campbell Medical School in 1928. With a medical diploma, he opened medical practice in the country-side. Whilst working as a physician he remained in touch with Anushilan Samiti. Banerjee was arrested and jailed in 1934. Banerjee was a founding member of RSP in 1940. He moved to

Balurghat Balurghat is a city and municipality located in the Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal, India, serving as the district headquarters. Strategically positioned on National Highway 512, it is well-connected by road and rail, facilitating trad ...

and worked on organising RSP in the northern parts of the province. He led the 1956 anti-merger movement in

West Dinajpur district West Dinajpur (Pron: ˈpoʃtʃim dinad͡ʒpur), or sometimes Paschim Dinajpur, is a former district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Balurghat. On 1 April 1992, the district was bifurcated into two separate districts namely ...

(against merger of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and

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 ...

).''Frontier Weekly''.
Leftism in Undivided Dinajpur [1947-1977]
'' He won the unreserved seat in the Balurghat constituency in the

1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election The West Bengal state assembly election of 1957 was part of a series of state assembly elections in 1957. State Reorganization On 1 November 1956, under States Reorganisation Act, 1956, a portion of the Purnea district east of the river Mahan ...

. He was a leading figure in the 1959 Food Movement in West Dinajpur district. Banerjee died in

on 8 January 1978, at the age of 74 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjee, Dhiren 1978 deaths 20th-century Indian medical doctors Revolutionary Socialist Party (India) politicians