Krishnapada Ghosh (1914–1987) was an Indian politician and

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

ist. He served as

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 ...

Minister of Labour 1969–1970 and 1977–1985. He was a

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 ...

member of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

. He was also a member of the Working Committee of the

Centre for Indian Trade Unions Centre of Indian Trade Unions, CITU is a National level Trade Union in India and its trade union wing is a spearhead of the Indian Trade Union Movement. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions is today one of biggest assemblies of workers and classe ...

Youth

Born in 1914, Ghosh grew up in

Khulna Khulna ( bn, খুলনা, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of Khulna District and Khulna Division. Khulna's economy is the third-largest in Bangladesh, contributing $53 b ...

. In 1930 he moved to

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 ...

, where he joined the student movement. Around 1935/1936 he became a member of the

Bengal Labour Party 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 ...

and active in workers activism. After about a year, he became a card-carrying member of the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

(along with other Labour Party members). When the Labour Party broke with CPI, he renounced his CPI party membership.

Return to the Communist Party

In 1945 he again joined CPI. He became a key labour organizer amongst the

Kidderpore Khidirpur or Kidderpore is a neighborhood of metropolitan Kolkata (Calcutta), in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. Etymology Most plausibly, the name is a corruption of ''Khidrpur'' or ''Khizarpur'', Khizr/Khidr being the guardian sai ...

dock workers and at Saxby and Farmers. Ghosh was jailed in 1948, and remained in prison until 1952. After being freed from jail, Ghosh took up a job at the CPI daily '' Swadhinata''. Ghosh sided with CPI(M) in the party split. Ghosh won the Beliaghata North constituency seat 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 obtained 21,387 votes (42.63%). He retained the Beliaghata North seat in the

1969 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election Elections were held in Indian state of West Bengal in February 1969 to elect 280 members to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. United Front formed the government with Ajoy Mukherjee as the Chief Minister. United Front won a landslide 214 seats ...

, obtaining 31,294 votes (66.10%).

United Front ministry

Ghosh was named Minister for Labour 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, formed in 1969. As Labour Minister, Ghosh sought to support labour in its confrontation with corporate interests. With the CPI(M) in charge of both the Home and Labour departments, the police were instructed not to intervene against striking workers. ''

Gherao Gherao, meaning "encirclement", is a word which denotes a tactic used by labour activists and union leaders in India; it is similar to picketing. Usually, a group of people would surround a politician or a government building until their demands ...

''s were effectively legalized. Salaries of workers increased as a result. In the first six months of the second United Front government there were 551 strikes and 73 lock-outs across the state, affecting some 570,000 workers.

1971 & 1972 assembly elections

Ghosh retained the Beliaghata North seat in 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 ...

. He obtained 23,318 votes (53.40%), defeating 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 ...

candidate in a straight contest. In the

1972 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal on March 11, 1972. Background The election was the 4th assembly election in West Bengal within six years. President's Rule had been introduced soon after the 1971 West ...

he was defeated by Ananta Kumar Bharati of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

. Ghosh finished in second place with 14,839 votes (21.60%).

Left Front ministry

Ghosh won the Beliaghata constituency seat in the

1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections was held in the Indian state of West Bengal on 14 June 1977. The polls took place after the ousting of Indira Gandhi's government at the Centre. The Left Front won a landslide victory. The 1977 election marked th ...

. He obtained 29,201 votes (55.82%), defeating the

Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...

and INC candidates. Ghosh was again named Labour Minister in the Left Front government formed in 1977. His role in the Left Front government differed from that of the United Front experience, rather than unilaterally supporting labour he now sought to act as mediator between unions and employers. He retained the Beliaghata seat in 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 ...

, obtaining 44,277 votes (62.88%). Ghosh retired from his post as Labour Minister in 1985, due to old age. He died in 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosh, Krishnapada 1987 deaths Trade unionists from West Bengal Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from West Bengal West Bengal MLAs 1969–1971 State cabinet ministers of West Bengal Journalists from West Bengal Politicians from Kolkata 1914 births West Bengal MLAs 1977–1982 West Bengal MLAs 1971–1972 West Bengal MLAs 1982–1987 West Bengal MLAs 1967–1969 Communist Party of India politicians from West Bengal