Swapan Dasgupta (born 3 October 1955) is an Indian journalist and politician. He is influential within the Indian right wing, writing columns for leading English dailies espousing

Hindu nationalism Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" or the correct term ''Hindū rāṣṭ ...

. He is a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha. In 2015, Dasgupta was conferred with the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to literature and education.

Early life and education

Dasgupta was born into a Bengali Baidya family on 3 October 1955 in Calcutta, West Bengal. He received his schooling from St. Paul's School and La Martiniere Calcutta before graduating from St. Stephen's College in 1975. He earned his MA and Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies and returned to India briefly in 1979 to take up a management position at

Calcutta Chemical Company The Calcutta Chemical Company was a pharmaceutical company established in the city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1916 by K.C. Das, B.N. Maitra, and R.N. Sen. Its founding was at the time of the Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, where the spirit of ent ...

, a family. However, within a year, Dasgupta returned to the United Kingdom as a Junior Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, where he taught and researched South Asian Politics. During this time, an excerpt from his thesis concerning the intersectionality of local politics in the

Midnapur district Medinipur or Midnapore (Pron: med̪iːniːpur) is a city known for its history in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the West Medinipur district. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River (variously known as ...

was published in one of the Subaltern Studies volumes.

Career

Dasgupta has served in editorial positions over several English dailies in India including The Indian Express, The Times of India, The Statesman, India Today et cetera. He is a frequent guest on news channels in English-language debates on Indian politics and international affairs. In February 2015, Swapan Dasgupta was appointed on the Board of Directors of Larsen and Toubro as a nominee of the Unit Trust of India. He stepped down from Directorship of Larsen and Toubro upon being appointed to the Rajya Sabha. In 2019, he published '' Awakening Bharat Mata: The Political Beliefs of the Indian Right.'' Dasgupta was conferred Honorary Visiting Professorship at Center for Media Studies (CMS) at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in recognition to his excellent expertise on journalism and media.

Politics

Dasgupta started as a Trotskite during college but became a Thatcherite in England; since then, he has self-identified with

centre-right politics Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and me ...

. Dasgupta has been active in national politics since the early 90s as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP); he believed in the potential of the Mandal Commission recommendations and the Ram Rath Yatra to forge a common Hindu identity. Mushirul Hasan, writing in 1997, held him the chief spokesperson of BJP in the English language press. In the early 2000s, Dasgupta blogged: Throughout these years, Dasgupta emphasized the value of English in reaching out to the elites — who were allegedly mass-committed to the left-liberal cause — and winning them over towards hindutva; he was one of the most fierce critics of the pro-vernacular policies followed by the communist government of West Bengal.

Legislation

In April 2016, the incumbent BJP government nominated Dasgupta to the Rajya Sabha as an eminent personality in literature; his term would have continued till 2022. However, in 2021, Dasgupta resigned from Rajya Sabha to contest the Legislative Assembly election in West Bengal for BJP from Tarakeswar; he lost by over 7000 votes. A month later, Dasgupta was renominated to the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of his original term — opposition politicians and constitutional scholars questioned the legal soundness of the renomination.

Reception

Meera Nanda finds Dasgupta among India's most prominent center-right public intellectuals. Arvind Tajagopal found Dasgupta among the most vocal enthusiasts for the spread of Hindutva, in English language press in the 80s. Scholars have located parallels between his writings and the thought school of Hindu nationalist organisations.

Personal life

He is married to Reshmi Ray Dasgupta, Lifestyle Editor at The Economic Times and has a son who is a practicing lawyer in the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

. They reside in New Delhi.

Bibliography

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External links

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Swapan Dasgupta
on Twitter

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dasgupta, Swapan 1955 births Indian columnists Living people La Martiniere Calcutta alumni St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Alumni of SOAS University of London Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from West Bengal Indian male journalists 20th-century Indian journalists Journalists from West Bengal Writers from Kolkata Politicians from Kolkata Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha