Ram Chatterjee (27 May 1922 – 1986) was an Indian politician. He won the Tarakeswar constituency seat in the 1967, 1969, 1971, 1977 and 1982 elections.[1]

Before politics

Born on 27 May 1922 in Chinsurah, Chatterjee grew up amidst poverty.[2] His father died during his school years, and he had to leave school before finishing Class VII.[2] During a long period Chatterjee was unemployed.[2] He lived in Chinsurah and Chandannagar.[2] As of 1949 he was leading a gang of goondas in Chandannagar, running extortion and protection rackets.[3] Chatterjee was unofficially protected by the Council of Administration of Chandannagar, a fact that allowed him to continue his operations.[3]

1950 riots

Chatterjee was hired at the Eastern Railways.[2] He was involved in the 1950 communal riots, and during the riots he started a grouping called 'Bhabani Dal' in Chandannagar.[2] These were the largest incidents of communal violence in Chandannagar.[3] Chatterjee was arrested on March 31, 1950, under the Preventive Detention Act. He was released after three weeks of custody.[2] On September 1, 1951, he was again arrested under the Preventive Detention Act.[2] He remained in detention until July 28, 1952.[2]

In Forward Bloc

Upon his release Chatterjee joined the Forward Bloc (Marxist Group).[2] He was arrested in January 1953, and was released on June 22, 1953.[2] Chatterjee belonged to the group of FB(MG) leaders that were expelled from the party after having supported the Communist Party of India candidate in the 1953 Calcutta South East by-election.[4] Along with the other expellees, he formed the Marxist Forward Bloc in April the following year.[4]

Chatterjee took part in the 1958 food movement.[2] He was arrested on September 15, 1958, and was detained for a week.[2]

United Front

In 1969 Chatterjee was named Minister for Sports in the second United Front government formed in West Bengal.[1] On June 22, 1969, Chatterjee charged into the exclusive Calcutta Swimming Club, an institution predominately serving Europeans, along with about a hundred Santhal tribals.[5][6][7][8]

Chatterjee lost his assembly seat in the 1972 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election.[9]

Left Front

Chatterjee regained his Tarakeswar seat in the 1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election.[1] Chatterjee was named Minister of State Home (Civil Defense) Department in the Left Front government formed in West Bengal in 1977.[10][11]

Chatterjee died in 1986.[10][12] His widow contested the Tarakeswar seat after his death.[12] After Chatterjee's death his party suffered an internal feud and was severely weakened in its Hooghly District bastion.[13] It would take another 10 years before the MFB had a minister in the West Bengal government.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Communist Party of India (Marxist). West Bengal State Committee. Election results of West Bengal: statistics & analysis, 1952–1991. The Committee. pp. 379, 414.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Suranjan Das; Jayanta Kumar Ray (1996). The Goondas: Towards a Reconstruction of the Calcutta Underworld. Firma KLM. p. 42. ISBN 978-81-7102-056-0.
  3. 1 2 3 Sailendra Nath Sen (2012). Chandernagore: From Boundage to Freedom, 1900–1955. Primus Books. pp. 161, 163, 171, 240. ISBN 978-93-80607-23-8.
  4. 1 2 S. N. Sadasivan (1977). Party and democracy in India. Tata McGraw-Hill. p. 87.
  5. ↑ Daily O. Why it's in Chetan Bhagat's interest Modi bhakts don't improve their English
  6. ↑ Seminar (557–562 ed.). R. Thapar. 2006. p. 250.
  7. ↑ Times of India. Welcome to the club: Not really!
  8. ↑ Now. Vol. 5. S. Seṅ. March 1969. p. 378.
  9. ↑ "General Elections, India, 1972, to the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal" (PDF). Constituency-wise Data, AC No. Election Commission. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 Indian Express. In the hot seat, why India's only Fire Minister isn't sweating
  11. ↑ Ross Mallick (26 November 2007). Development Policy of a Communist Government: West Bengal Since 1977. Cambridge University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-521-04785-2.
  12. 1 2 India Today. The Left parties: Dialectical wars
  13. ↑ Sajal Basu (1 December 1990). Factions, ideology, and politics: coalition politics in Bengal. Minerva Associates (Publications). p. 177. ISBN 978-81-85195-26-1.
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