Barada Mukutmoni was an Indian politician, belonging to the

Bolshevik Party of India The Bolshevik Party of India (abbreviated BPI) is an Indian political party in India. The party was founded in 1939. The party had a certain role in the trade union movement in West Bengal and was briefly represented in the state government in 19 ...

. He briefly served as Minister for Tourism in the state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

BPI leader in Bengal

In early 1944 the BPI

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

dissolved the

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

Committee of the party and formed a 4-member secretariat for the province with Mukutmoni as one of its members. During the 1956 reorganisation of states in India, Mukutmoni took part in the protests against the proposed merger of Bihar and West Bengal into "Purba Pradesh". He was a member of a January 1956 committee of left parties in West Bengal that reviewed that reorganisation proposal (other members included Jyoti Basu and Nihar Mukherjee). As of 1959 he served as the President of the Radha Chemicals Workers Union.

Electoral politics

Mukutmoni contested the Titagarh 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 Maha ...

.Election Commission of India.
STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1957 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL
' He finished in fourth place with 1,923 votes (6.72)%. In the 1962 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election he contested the Deganga seat and finished in second place with 11,449 votes (32.83%).Election Commission of India.
STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1962 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL
' In the

1967 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election The West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, 1967 was held in Indian state of West Bengal in 1967 to elect 280 members to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. United Front led by Ajoy Mukherjee won majority of seats in the election, and formed ...

he contested the Naihati seat and finished in third place with 7443 votes (13.10%).Election Commission of India.
STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1967 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL
'

Tourism Minister and BPI split

Mukutmoni was named Minister of Tourism in the second

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...

government of West Bengal in March 1969. A split occurred in BPI in the wake of Mukutmoni joining the state government. To become a minister Mukutmoni had to resign from his post as secretary of the West Bengal State Committee of BPI, which he did. But when the State Committee met on 14 March 1969 Mukutmoni's candidate for new secretary was defeated in a vote. Mukutmoni refused to hand over the secretary post to the secretary-elect Sita Seth and in July 1969 the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of BPI declared expelled Mukutmoni and his followers from the party. In response Mukutmoni formed a Central Committee of his own, with three expelled West Bengal State Committee members. The two factions clashed over control of the party headquarters on Central Avenue. A June 1969 edition of ''Himmat'' reported that Mukutmoni was about to lose his ministerial post. As the West Bengal Legislative Council was abolished in August 1969 (a body to which Mukutmoni, in theory, had been able to get elected to), Mukutmoni was forced to resign from his ministerial post six months after the formation of the second United Front government.

1971 elections

Ahead of the

1971 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1971. The assembly election was held alongside the 1971 Indian general election. Parties and coalitions Ahead of the 1971 election the map of party coalitions was r ...

the BPI (Barada Mukutmoni group) joined the CPI-led United Left Democratic Front. Mukutmoni stood as a candidate on a CPI ticket in

Chakdaha Chakdaha is a town and a municipality in the Kalyani subdivision of the Nadia district, located in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Chakdaha is a prominent urban local body in the district of Nadia, one of the southern dist ...

, finishing in fourth place with 4,479 votes (7.78%).

References

{{reflist, 30em Bolshevik Party of India politicians State cabinet ministers of West Bengal