Renu Chakravartty (1917-1994) was a leader of

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 ...

, noted parliamentarian and educationist.

Early life

Born in a well-off Brahmo family to Sadhan Chandra and Brahmakumari Roy, at Kolkata on 21 October 1917, she was educated at Loreto House and

Victoria Institution The Victoria Institution is the oldest secondary school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is a memorial school, so-called because it was partly funded by public subscription intended for the erection of a permanent memorial to commemorate the Golden ...

in Kolkata and

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millic ...

. After her graduation with honours at Kolkata, she acquired a

tripos At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mat ...

in English Literature at Cambridge.Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical Dictionary) by Anjali Bose, Vol II, 3rd edition 2004, page 309, , (in Bengali) Sishu Sahitya Samsad Pvt. Ltd., 32A Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata-700009 A niece of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, she was inspired to take interest in political affairs by him. In 1938, she came in contact with

Rajani Palme Dutt Rajani may refer to: *Rajani (name), people named Rajani * Rajani (actress) (born 1965), Indian film actress * ''Rajani'' (TV series), a 1980s Indian TV series * ''Rajani'' (film), a 2009 Indian Kannada romantic comedy * ''Rajani'', an 1877 novel ...

, the notable British communist, and joined the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

. On return to India, the same year, she secured membership of the illegal

and plunged into active left politics.

Marriage and politics

She married eminent journalist,

Nikhil Chakravartty Nikhil Chakravartty (1913–1998) was an Indian journalist. Biography Chakravartty was born on 3 November 1913 in India's northeastern state of Assam. He was the founder-editor of the respected current affairs weekly ''Mainstream''. He gradua ...

, in 1942. In the early forties she taught English Literature in the University of Calcutta. Along with Rani Mitra Dasgupta and Manikuntala Sen she played an important role in the formation of

Mahila Atma Raksha Samiti The Mahila Atma Raksha Samiti ( bn, মহিলা আত্মরক্ষা সমিতি, 'Women's Self-Defense Association, abbreviated MARS) was a women's movement in Bengal, India.Agarwal, Bina. Gender and Land Rights in South Asia'. Ca ...

. It later played a part in the

Tebhaga movement Tebhaga movement (1946–1947) was significant peasant agitation, initiated in Bengal by the All India Kisan Sabha of peasant front of the Communist Party of India. History At that time sharecroppers had contracted to give half of their harv ...

. For the support of destitute women she was involved, along with her mother, in the Nari Seva Sangha. In 1948, when the Communist Party of India was declared illegal, she went into hiding. She was elected to the

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-p ...

from

Basirhat Basirhat is a city of West Bengal, India. It is located on the banks of the Ichamati (Ichhamati) River. Geography Location Basirhat is located at . Area overview The area shown in the map is a part of the Ichhamati-Raimangal Plain, located ...

in 1952 and 1957, and from

Barrackpore Barrackpore (also known as Barrackpur) is a city and a municipality of urban Kolkata of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (K ...

in 1962. After CPI split in 1964, she decided to remain with the older organisation, and in two successive elections in 1967 and 1971 she was defeated from the same constituency by Md. Ismail of

Communist Party of India (Marxist) 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 ...

. Gopalkrishna Gandhi has summed up very succinctly, the era in which Renu Chakravartty served in the Indian Parliament: "The early Lok Sabhas and Rajya Sabhas more than rose to the standards of "daily assessment" set by Dr. Ambedkar, especially in MPs' stellar debating contributions. The lyrically thoughtful Nehru was matched by the rasping Kripalani. The Houses were well-served by the laser-eyed Feroze Gandhi, the fiery Bhupesh Gupta, the impassioned Hiren Mukherjee, the sedate Lakshmi Menon, the thermal Violet Alva, the acerbic Rammanohar Lohia, the excoriating Barrister Nath Pai, the striking Renu Chakravartty, the diligent Minoo Masani, the startling C.N. Annadurai, and, of course, the poetic Atal Bihari Vajpayee." In around four decades of political life she was active in the workers' movement, organised many strikes and was sent to jail on numerous occasions. She was a vibrant contributor to the women's movement. She was on the executive committees of many organisations.

References