Bhakti Bhushan Mandal (1920 – 30 August 2004) was an Indian politician belonging to the

All India Forward Bloc The All India Forward Bloc ( AIFB) is a left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose. The party re-established as an independent political party a ...

. He represented the Dubrajpur seat in the

West Bengal Legislative Assembly The West Bengal Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian states and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is located in the B. B. D. Bagh area of Kolkata, the capital of the state. Members of the Legislative as ...

1962–1967, 1969–1971 and 1977–2001. Mandal held the post of Minister for Judicial and Legislative 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 ...

cabinet formed in West Bengal in 1969. In the 1970s he took part in founding the Defense Committee, which sought to help Naxalites arrested in staged encounters. Mandal served as Minister for Fisheries and Co-operatives in the first Left Front cabinet.''India Today''.
Pressure all round
' He was a member of the All India Forward Bloc West Bengal State Committee.''India Today''.

' At the time he was known as a civil rights campaigner and well connected with the Ananda Marg movement. In 1978, he went on a 24-day tour of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and became the president of the India-China Friendship Association. In the early 1980s he led a Mandal Action Commission, which called for recognition as

Other Backward Castes The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...

for 177 communities in West Bengal (encompassing around 50 percent of the population of the state). Mandal met with exiled Naga leader Phizo in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and declared himself as intermediary between Phizo and the Delhi government. Mandal was publicly reprimanded by the Left Front chairman

Promode Dasgupta Promode Dasgupta (13 July 1910 – 29 November 1982) was an Indian Communist politician from West Bengal, often referred to as PDG. He was the first leader of the West Bengal unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), serving as St ...

for failure to maintain fish production levels. After the

1982 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1982. The Left Front, which had won the 1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, emerged victoriously. The Indian National Congress emerged as the main oppo ...

Kiranmoy Nanda Kiranmoy Nanda ( bn, কিরণময় নন্দ; born 16 May 1944) is an Indian politician, belonging to the Samajwadi Party. He was the Fisheries Minister in the Left Front cabinet in the state of West Bengal since 1982 till 2011 when ...

of the

West Bengal Socialist Party West Bengal Socialist Party (WBSP) was a political party in the Indian state of West Bengal. WBSP was formed when the Bengali socialists in the then Janata Party split in the beginning of the 1980s (the other faction became the Democratic Soci ...

was named as new Minister for Fisheries. Mandal would again be named as Minister for Co-operatives. Due to ill health, he was absent for months from his office. At the time of the swearing in of the

Buddhadev Bhattacharya Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also known as Buddha Babu (born 1 March 1944) is an Indian Communist politician and a former member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He served as the 7th Chief Minister of West Bengal from 2000 ...

government in November 2000, Mandal was hospitalized at

SSKM Hospital IPGMER and SSKM Hospital, or in its full name Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research and Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital, colloquially known as P.G. Hospital (Presidency General Hospital), also known as PGI Kolkata, is ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

for malaria Mandal was not nominated for re-election in the

2001 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election The West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, 2001 was held in Indian state of West Bengal to elect 294 members of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Results Left Front led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) won 196 seats, a majority. Ch ...

, due to health reasons.''The Hindu''.
Another Minister dropped from candidates list
'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandal, Bhakti Bhushan 1920 births 2004 deaths All India Forward Bloc politicians West Bengal MLAs 1962–1967 West Bengal MLAs 1969–1971 West Bengal MLAs 1977–1982 West Bengal MLAs 1982–1987 West Bengal MLAs 1987–1991 West Bengal MLAs 1991–1996 West Bengal MLAs 1996–2001 State cabinet ministers of West Bengal