Kanti Biswas ( bn, কান্তি বিশ্বাস), was an Indian communist politician and former minister from

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 fou ...

Early life

Kanti Biswas was born in

Namasudra Namasudra, also known as Namassej, is an ''Avarna'' community originating from eastern and central Bengal. The community was earlier known as ''Chandala'' or ''Chandal'', a term usually considered as a slur. They were traditionally engaged in fis ...

community to Jogendranath Biswas at Bukrail, Kashiani, Faridpur district, Bengal Presidency in British India. He did M.Com. and was deeply involved in the student politics of Dacca University, starting with the Bengali Language Movement and later started teaching in Quaid E Azam Memorial College. Kanti represented the

National Awami Party The National Awami Party (NAP), translated from Urdu to English as National People's Party, was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by A ...

and fought against

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...

in an election. In 1960, he migrated to West Bengal, India when government of Pakistan banned Communist Party and issued a warrant against him.

Political career

In 1967, he earned the membership of CPI(M) and was associated with the activities of Kisan Sabha, UCRC and

DYFI Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) is a youth organisation in India. It was founded in its inaugural conference held from 1–3 November 1980 at Shaheed Kartar Singh Saraba village in Ludhiana, Punjab. DYFI identifies itself to be an ...

. He was also the member of Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch and president of Samajik Naya Mancha. He was one of the few Dalit leaders from

CPI(M) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...

who reached till ministerial level during their Government and was also the longest serving Education Minister of the state. * In 1977, he first elected from

Gaighata Gaighata is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Bangaon subdivision of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Situated on the banks of the river Jamuna, Gaighata is located ...

constituency in state legislative assembly elections and was allotted with Ministry of Youth Affairs and Home (Passports). * In 1982 and 1987, he was re-elected for Gaighata seat successfully. * He was elected twice from

Sandeshkhali Sandeshkhali is a village in the Sandeshkhali II CD block in the Basirhat subdivision of the North 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Sandeshkhali is located at . Area overview The area shown in the ...

constituency in 1996 and 2001. *From 1982 to 2006 he served as the Minister of School Education of Bengal. He was the first dalit education minister in India. * In 1981, he was elected to CPI(M) state committee and in 2012 to CPI(M) State Control Commission which he hold till his death. He had written a memoir Amar Jeevan: Kichu Katha (Bengali) (আমার জীবন: কিছু কথা) which was published in 2014.

Death

He died in 2016 in a private hospital due to lung infections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biswas, Kanti 1932 births 2016 deaths Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from West Bengal Dalit leaders University of Dhaka alumni