Chitta Basu

Chitta Basu
Member of Parliament
Personal details
Born	1926 Dhaka, Bangladesh erstwhile British India
Died	Oct 5, 1997
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Forward Bloc
Relations	Bachelor
Residence	North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India

Chitta Basu (Bengali: চিত্ত বসু) (1926 – October 5, 1997) was an Indian politician and a leader of the All India Forward Bloc. He was born in Dhaka, now the capital of Bangladesh, in 1926. In his obituary, The Indian Express described Basu as belonging to the rare tribe of politicians who did politics for a cause and practiced what they preached^[1]. Barasat was his Indian Parliamentary constituency for over two decades.

Education

Basu graduated from Daulatpur College in Khulna district (British India). He later did his masters from the University of Calcutta.

Political life

Chitta Basu, who joined the Forward Bloc formed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939, after Bose resigned from the National Congress the same year, worked for the party since he joined it way back in 1945 as a promising student leader. He rose to became the party's youth wing, All-India Yuba League's general secretary in 1947-48. After Partition, Basu immersed himself in refugee rehabilitation work. In 1972, he became the party's central committee member and then the general secretary in 1977, a post that he held till his death.

He was first elected to the West Bengal state legislative assembly from Barasat constituency of the then undivided 24 Parganas district in 1957. In 1966, he became a Rajya Sabha member. He was elected to the 6th Lok Sabha from Barasat constituency in 1977. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha 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 AIFB (All India Forward Bloc) 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.

Died

Chitta Basu died of a heart attack^[2] on the Howrah-bound Danapur Express between Madhupur and Jasidih stations in Bihar on Sunday morning, October 5, 1997. He was returning to Calcutta after attending an anti-Laloo rally organised by a 17-party left and democratic front in Patna. He died a bachelor at the age of 72.

See also

• All India Forward Bloc
• Barasat (Lok Sabha constituency)

References

1. ^ [1] "Chitta Basu dies in sleep aboard Howrah-bound train ", Indian Express
2. ^ [2]

• [3] Rediff News
• [4] Election Result from Barasat, WB
• [5] AIFB History: Chitta Basu
• [6] Parliament of India

Persondata
Name	Basu, Chitta
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1926
Place of birth	Dhaka, British India
Date of death	1997
Place of death