Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi (''Prio Rônjon Dashmunshi''; 13 November 1945 – 20 November 2017) was an

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 ...

politician, former

Union Minister The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...

and a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the 14th

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He represented the

Raiganj (Lok Sabha constituency) Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 543 parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centres on Raiganj in West Bengal. All the seven assembly segments of No. 5 Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency are in Uttar Dinajpur district. ...

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 ...

. He died on 20 November 2017, aged 72, after nine years in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

following a massive

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

Career

Dasmunsi was president of

Indian Youth Congress The Indian Youth Congress is the youth wing of the Indian National Congress party. The Indian Youth Congress was a department of the Indian National Congress from the period just after the Partition of India in 1947 until the late 1960s. While p ...

from 1970 to 1971. He was elected to the

5th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 5th Lok Sabha, ( 15 March 1971 — 18 January 1977) elected February–March 1971.The term of the House was extended two times by one year at a time. However, the House was dissolved after having been in existence for a ...

from the South Calcutta constituency in the

1971 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 1 and 10 March 1971 to elect members of the 5th Lok Sabha. They were the fifth general elections since independence in 1947. The 27 Indian states and union territories were represented by 518 constit ...

. He was appointed as the Union Minister of State for

Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

in 1985 by prime minister

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

. Within West Bengal, he was known for his strong anti-Left credentials. In 2004, in the

First Manmohan Singh ministry The First Ministry of Manmohan Singh was the first Union Council of Ministers of India under the Prime Ministership of Dr. Manmohan Singh. It was formed after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April - 10 May 2004, t ...

, he was appointed as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. He controversially banned television networks he deemed "obscene", including a three-month ban on the Sony-owned television network

AXN AXN is a pay television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Funded th ...

and

Fashion TV FashionTV is an international fashion and lifestyle broadcasting television channel. Founded in France in 1997, by its Polish-born president Michel Adam Lisowski, FashionTV is a widely distributed satellite channels in the world with 31 satellit ...

. In 2007, Dasmunsi was also responsible requiring broadcaster

Nimbus Communications Nimbus Communications Limited was an Indian media and entertainment company, and sports broadcaster, known for its Neo Prime and Neo Sports channels. It has integrated, end-to-end media services focusing on Sports broadcasting, marketing, and f ...

to share broadcast rights for the

Indian cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a Full Member of the International ...

with the state television network,

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

— this despite Nimbus paying hundreds of millions of dollars for the rights to the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...

. Dasmunsi served as the president of the

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry o ...

for almost twenty years, from 1988 to 2008. He was succeeded by

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine national parties in India. The party generally supports Indian nationalism and Gandhian secularism. It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and is also a significant party in ...

politician

Praful Patel Praful Manoharbhai Patel (born 17 February 1957) is an Indian Nationalist Congress Party politician, industrialist and sports administrator. He was the president of India's association football governing body the All India Football Federatio ...

Electoral record

* In 1971, Dasmunsi won in the general elections from the Constituency (Lok Sabha) South Calcutta. * In 1984, he won in the general elections from the

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 ...

. * In 1989, he lost in the general elections from Howrah. * In 1991, he lost in the general elections from Howrah. * In 1996, he won in the general elections from Howrah. * In 1999, he won in the general elections from

* In 2004, he won in the general elections from

All India Football Federation

Dasmunsi succeeded Khalifa Ziauddin as the president of the

(AIFF) in December 1988. Under his leadership, the AIFF launched the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

in 1996. The National Football League would be replaced by the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

for the 2007-08 season. The

India national football team The India national football team represents India in international football and is governed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The team is affiliated to FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Indian team, which was once cons ...

won the

2008 AFC Challenge Cup The 2008 AFC Challenge Cup football tournament was organised by AFC and was hosted by India.The tournament was played from 30 July – 13 August 2008. India won the final against Tajikistan. India was also the winner of the fair play award and ...

in Delhi to qualify for the

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the fifte ...

in Doha. He was a member of the FIFA Technical Study Group Member in

1995 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup, the second edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was held in Sweden and won by Norway women's national football team, Norway, who became the first European nation to win the Women's World Cup. The tournament fea ...

held in Sweden and a Match Commissioner in

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at ...

held in the United States. He was also the first Indian official to be appointed as a special Duty officer, at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

and the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. He was also the Chef`de Mission of the India Olympics Contingent at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, and Match Commissioner for two World Cup Matches at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

in Germany.

Life

Dasmunsi was married in 1994 to Mrs.

Deepa Dasmunsi Deepa Dasmunsi is an Indian politician. She served as the member of parliament for Raiganj in the 15th Lok Sabha. She was the Minister of State for Urban Development from October 2012 until May 2014. She was the wife of Indian National Congress ...

, a social worker from

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. They have a young son, Priyadeep Dasmunshi. Dasmunsi suffered from numerous problems like

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

and

hypertension Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

during his prime. He suffered a massive

and

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

on 12 October 2008, leaving him in minimum conscious state. He was admitted to the

All India Institute of Medical Sciences The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare , Government of India. These institutes ha ...

(AIIMS) in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

and was later shifted to

Apollo Hospital Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited is an Indian multinational healthcare group headquartered in Chennai. Along with the eponymous hospital chain, the company also operates pharmacies, primary care and diagnostic centres, telehealth clinics, ...

in New Delhi. He remained on life support, and was diagnosed with a complete failure of the left ventricular system. In November 2009, Dasmunsi was temporarily moved to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, where he underwent

stem cell therapy Stem-cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition. , the only established therapy using stem cells is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This usually takes the form of a bone-marrow transplantation, but ...

in an attempt to reverse some of the loss of brain functions caused by the stroke. Since Dasmunsi's hospitalization, his wife Deepa has to some extent taken over his political mantle; she was elected from

in 2009. On 10 October 2011, the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi advised his family to take him home and care for him there. After lingering for nine years in coma, Dasmunsi finally died on 20 November 2017, a week after his 72nd birthday. His dead body was taken to his ancestral home in Raiganj, West Bengal, and was cremated at the local crematorium.

References

External links

Dasmunsi called Nimbus Communications 'unpatriotic' for refusing to share a live feed of Indian cricket matches with state broadcast Doordarshan.

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dasmunsi, Priya Ranjan 1945 births 2017 deaths Indian National Congress politicians People from West Bengal India MPs 2004–2009 Members of the Cabinet of India Indian Youth Congress Presidents West Bengal politicians University of Calcutta alumni Ministers for Information and Broadcasting of India India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1971–1977 Lok Sabha members from West Bengal People from Uttar Dinajpur district Indian Congress (Socialist) politicians People from Howrah district People from Kolkata district Indian National Congress (U) politicians Indian sports executives and administrators Indian football executives Presidents of the All India Football Federation