Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (born 23 November 1959) is an Indian physician and politician from West Bengal. She is Chairperson of Banga Janani Bahini, a women's wing of

All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cur ...

. She is a member of 15th, 16th and 17th

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

, re-elected in

2014 Indian general election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...

and 2019.

Early life

Kakoli Ghosh was born on 23 November 1959. Her family has had a connection to West Bengal and Indian politics and government for three generations. Her maternal grandfather served as the postmaster general of West Bengal. Her paternal uncle, the late Arun Moitra, was a freedom fighter and a former Pradesh Congress President. Her maternal uncle,

Gurudas Dasgupta Gurudas Dasgupta (3 November 1936 – 31 October 2019) was an Indian politician and a leader of the Communist Party of India. In the 1950s and 60s, he held several offices as a student leader. Later he was a member of Rajya Sabha for three term ...

, was also a Member of the Indian Parliament. Early in his career, Mr. Moitra built his family farm in Digberia of Barasat in North 24 Parganas District of West Bengal. Member of Parliament (MP) Ghosh grew up at her family's farm. Her husband, Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar, is also a physician and a politician. They have two sons.

Education

Kakoli Ghosh gained her medical degree from

R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital is a government owned medical college and hospital in Shyambazar, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established in 1886 to ensure self-sufficiency (Swaraj) in medical education and services in the coloni ...

, Kolkata, which was then affiliated with the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

. She also did a Post Graduate Training in Obstetric Ultrasound from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Career

She is now a member of the Committee on Home Affairs in the Lok Sabha (People's Chamber) of the Indian Parliament. Ghosh Dastidar grew up in a socio-political environment. Alongside having a family legacy of public service, the MP dedicated her life to serving the people of her community including providing health care for slum-dwelling citizens. She also helped implement a school and dispensary in South 24 Parganas for the children of trafficked women. In 2009 Lok Sabha elections, she won from

Barasat (Lok Sabha constituency) Barasat Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 543 parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centres on Barasat in West Bengal. All the seven assembly segments of No. 17 Barasat Lok Sabha constituency are in North 24 Parganas dist ...

by a margin of 1,22,901 votes. She had earlier lost the elections from

Diamond Harbour (Lok Sabha constituency) Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 543 Parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centres on Diamond Harbour in West Bengal. All the seven legislative assembly segments of No. 21 Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constitu ...

Howrah (Lok Sabha constituency) Howrah Lok Sabha constituency ( bn, হাওড়া লোকসভা কেন্দ্র) is one of the 543 parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centres on Howrah in West Bengal. All the seven assembly segments of No. 2 ...

and

Ballyganj Ballygunge is a locality of South Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. History The East India Company obtained from the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar, in 1717, the right to rent from 38 villages surrounding their settlement. Of thes ...

assembly constituency.

Controversies

Park Street Rape Case

When protests and demonstrations were at the peak for justice in

2012 Delhi gang rape case The 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, commonly known as the Nirbhaya case, involved a rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood in South West Delhi. The incident took place when Jyoti Singh, a 22-year ...

Ghosh Dastidar made very baseless and insensitive allegations against the Park Street Gang Rape victim. She said that the 'incident at Park Street was not a rape at all'. While making claim that the Park Street case and Delhi case cannot be compared she described Park Street case as a 'misunderstanding between a lady and her client,' thereby suggesting that the victim is a sex worker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosh Dastidar, Kakoli Alumni of King's College London Living people Politicians from Kolkata West Bengal politicians India MPs 2009–2014 Trinamool Congress politicians from West Bengal 1959 births University of Calcutta alumni Lok Sabha members from West Bengal People from Barasat India MPs 2014–2019 Women in West Bengal politics Women members of the Lok Sabha Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal India MPs 2019–present 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians