Saroj Mukherjee (14 January 1911 – 9 February 1990) was an Indian freedom fighter and a member of the Polit Bureau of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

. He was also the secretary of the West Bengal state committee of the Communist party.

Early life

He was born in Bahadurpur, Paschim Bardhaman in erstwhile

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

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 ...

(now in

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

). His father was Shikkhabroti Trilochan. He joined political activities from the beginning of 1920s. In 1928 he passed Matriculation from Burdwan Municipal High School. He passed I.Sc. from

Serampore College Serampore College is located in Serampore, in West Bengal, India. Established in 1818, it is the fourth oldest college in the country after Old Seminary, Kottayam (Established 1815), CMS College, Kottayam and Presidency College in Kolkata, a ...

with scholarship. As a student at the age of thirteen, Mukherjee joined the Indian freedom movement, joining the

Indian National Congress party 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 ...

in 1924 along with his friend Benoy Chowdhury. He also joined the

Jugantar Jugantar or Yugantar ( ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushilan Samiti, started in the g ...

group in 1928. While studying in Serampore College, he and Benoy Chowdhury became acquainted with Dr. Bhupendranath Datta and Communist leaders Muzaffar Ahmed and

Abdul Halim ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm (ALA-LC romanization of ) is a male Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Ḥalīm'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which gives rise to the Muslim theophori ...

Political activities

In 1930, he participated in the

Salt March The Salt march, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March, and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of Non violence, non violent civil disobedience in British Raj, colonial India, led by Mahatma Gandhi. The 24-day march lasted from 12 March 19 ...

and was jailed. After being released, he got admitted in

Vidyasagar College Vidyasagar College is a state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta, located in North Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The college offers both post-graduate and under-graduate courses in a number of subjects ...

. He was again arrested before he could sit for his B.A. examination. While in jail he passed B.A. and studied for M.A. and law. He was released from jail in 1938. He joined 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 1931 and went to work for them full-time in 1938. In 1941, Saroj Mukherjee married Kanak Dasgupta, who was also a Communist leader. From 1939 to 1943, he was the Kolkata District Committee Secretary of CPI. From 1943 to 1948 and 1951 to 1962, he was a member of Bengal State Committee of CPI. Mukherjee was the editor of the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

daily ''Swadhinata'' from 1956 to 1962. Later, he was the first editor and publisher of CPI(M)'s newspaper ''

Ganashakti ''Ganashakti Patrika'' (1967–present) is an Indian Bengali daily newspaper published from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The paper is an organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbrev ...

'', which position he held until his death. He was one of the founder-members of CPI(M), when CPI got divided in 1964. He was a member of the Central Committee of CPI(M) from 1978 until his death. He was elected from

Katwa (Lok Sabha constituency) Katwa Lok Sabha constituency was one of the 543 Lok Sabha, parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centred on Katwa in West Bengal, which was abolished following the delimitation of the parliamentary constituencies in 2008. Ove ...

Barddhaman Bardhaman (, ), officially Bardhaman Sadar, is a city and municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an a ...

in 1971. After the death of Pramode Dasgupta in 1982, he became the West Bengal State Secretary of CPI(M). In 1985 he became a Politburo member of CPI(M). Several books were written by him including: * ''Trade Union-er gorar kotha'' * ''1905 saler rush biplob'' * ''Swadhinatar Juge Rangpur'' * ''Trade Union Andoloner Notun Dhara'' * ''Tinti Dashak'' * ''Dui Pathikrit'' * ''Duiti Smaraniyo Din'' * ''Rajniti o Sangbadikota'' * ''Bharater Communist Party o Amra'' He died on 10 February 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukherjee, Saroj Bengali Hindus 1990 deaths Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from West Bengal Politicians from Kolkata 1911 births India MPs 1971–1977 Lok Sabha members from West Bengal Politicians from Purba Bardhaman district 20th-century Bengalis Indian newspaper editors 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Indian political writers Indian Marxist writers 20th-century Indian male writers Indian Marxist journalists Indian communist writers 20th-century Indian journalists Indian political journalists Bengali-language writers

Early life

Political activities

See also

References