Abu Barkat Ataur Ghani Khan Choudhury (1 November 1927 – 14 April 2006), known as Barkatda to his supporters, was an

Indian politician Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary democratic secular republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the prime minister of India is ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Choudhury was a senior leader of

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 E ...

party. His home is in English Bazar, Malda, West Bengal

Political career

Ghani Khan Choudhury was first elected as an MLA to the West Bengal state legislative assembly in 1957, winning the seat in 1962, 1967, 1971 and 1972. He served as a State Cabinet Minister in the Government of West Bengal from 1972 to 1977. First elected to the

7th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 7th Lok Sabha, (18 January 1980 – 31 December 1984) elected December 1979 – January 1980. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India nine sitting members from Rajya Sabha were el ...

in 1980 from Malda, Choudhury would go on to represent the constituency for eight straight terms, winning again in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, 1996,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and 2004. From 1982 to 1984, Choudhury served as the

Minister of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...

in Indira Gandhi's and Rajiv Gandhi's governments. He took active part in introducing the Kolkata Metro Railway and Circular Railways in the city of

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 ...

, and towards establishing the Malda Town railway station as one of the most important stations of the region. For his contributions, Choudhury is often respected as the architect of modern Malda. File:Ghani_Khan_Choudhary_with_Indian_PM_Indira_Gandhi.jpg, ABA Ghani Khan Choudhary with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi File:Mamata_Banerjee_meets_with_Ghani_Khan.jpg, ABA Ghani Khan Choudhary with current West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

Early life

Ghani Khan was the son of Abu Hyat Khan Chowdhury and Saleha Khatoon. Indian_Minister_Ghani_Khan.jpg, Abu Barkat Ataur Ghani Khan Choudhary

Controversy

Choudhury had claimed to be a barrister-at-law, called to the Bar from one of London's Inns of Court, while providing biographical information to the Indian Parliament. However, the claim was found to be false by an election tribunal, and Choudhury was criticised by opposition politicians, such as Jyoti Basu (himself a barrister from London, who had also threatened to bring a motion against Choudhury),

George Fernandes George Mathew Fernandes (3 June 1930 – 29 January 2019) was an Indian trade unionist, statesman, and journalist, who served as the 22nd Defence Minister of India from 1998 until 2004. He was a member of Lok Sabha for over 30 years, starting f ...

and

Indrajit Gupta Indrajit Gupta (18 March 1919 – 20 February 2001) was an Indian politician who belonged to the Communist Party of India (CPI). From 1996 to 1998, he served as Union Home Minister in the United Front governments of prime ministers H. D. Deve ...

. Choudhury attributed the incorrect information to an "oversight".

Personal life

Ghani Khan Choudhury was married to Esther who left India in 1963 and settled in Switzerland. He is survived by his three children, son Simon Hyat Khan Choudhury, daughters Yasmin Khan Choudhry and Neelam Khan Choudhury. Choudhury's siblings, all politicians, are

Abu Nasar Khan Choudhury Abu Nasar Khan Choudhury is an Indian politician who was the Minister of State for Science and Technology in the Government of West Bengal. He has served as an MLA, elected from the Sujapur constituency in the 2011 West Bengal state assembly e ...

Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury (born 12 January 1938) is an Indian politician and former Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare. He has represented the Maldaha Dakshin (Lok Sabha constituency) since 2009. He first elected M.P from hi ...

and

Rubi Noor Rubi Noor (12 August 1945 – 10 July 2008) was an Indian politician and the leader of the Indian National Congress who served as four term MLA from Sujapur (Vidhan Sabha constituency). She was younger sister of A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhur ...

Legacy

Ghani Khan Choudhury Institute of Engineering & Technology (GKCIET), Malda, West Bengal was established in 2010 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India under the mentorship of the National Institute of Technology, Durgapur and in the memory of Sri A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhury.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, A.B.A. Ghani Khan Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal People from Malda district Politicians from Kolkata Bengali Muslims India MPs 2004–2009 West Bengal MLAs 1967–1969 West Bengal MLAs 1969–1971 West Bengal MLAs 1971–1972 West Bengal MLAs 1972–1977 West Bengal MLAs 1977–1982 Railway Ministers of India 1927 births 2006 deaths India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 Lok Sabha members from West Bengal 20th-century Bengalis