Sushil Kumar Dhara (2 March 1911 – 28 January 2011) was a revolutionary in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and a political leader after Indian Independence in 1947. Dhara was born on 2 March 1911 in Tikarampur (near

Tamluk Tamluk () is a town and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purba Medinipur district. Though there is some controversy, scholars have generally agreed that present-day Tamluk is the site of the an ...

) in Mahisadal in the present Purba Medinipur district into a Hindu family. He was involved in political activities from his school days. He completed his education from Vidyasagar College in 1937. Later, in 1940, he participated in the Satyagraha movement of Gandhi. In August 1942 he played the lead role in launching an anti-British movement in undivided Midnapore. The movement helped to free Tamralipta from British rule and a free government was formed in this region on 17 December 1942. Vidyut Bahini, of the parallel Government of Tamluk was also commanded by him. As a member of Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar, which is better known as Tamralipta National Government, formed during the 1942 August Movement, Dhara held the portfolios of War and Home. During the period of British governance, Dhara spent 12 years and 4 months in prison. After independence of India, Dhara won several elections, which included the Mahishadal seat of West Bengal Assembly in 1962, 1967 and 1969. In 1962, he was the winner of the Assembly poll as a Congress candidate. He also created the Bangla Congress in 1966. In 1967, Prafulla Sen was defeated at Arambagh by another Gandhian Ajoy Mukherjee, who became chief minister of West Bengal after Prafulla Chandra Sen. Architect of Ajoy Mukherjee's victory at Arambagh was Narayan Ch Ghosh the then student's leader there. Dhara had inspired students of Arambagh unfolding his image as commander of Vidyut Bahini. In 1967, he had won the poll as a candidate of Bangla Congress. He also served the state government as Industry and Commerce Minister. He had published a book titled ''Ken ei banya'' written by Narayan Ch Ghosh for circulation in the lower Damudar basin. Reading noted book people there were very much agitated and took effective role against Congress. Later, Ajoy Mukherjee with some of his closest colleagues, such as Pranob Mukherjee, joined Indian National Congress leaving Dhara - his long term associates. Ajoy Mukherjee had pushed

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

to be State Minister in the Indian Cabinet. In 1977, from the Tamluk constituency, Dhara was elected to the Lok Sabha as a candidate of 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 ...

. Dhara stepped back from politics in the 1980s and involved himself in social work. He died on 28 January 2011, at the age of 100, owing to prolonged sickness.

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* https://archive.today/20130218104518/http://www.smritisoudha.in/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Dhara, Sushil People from Purba Medinipur district India MPs 1977–1979 1911 births 2011 deaths Lok Sabha members from West Bengal Janata Party politicians Bangla Congress politicians Indian independence activists from West Bengal West Bengal politicians Bengali Hindus 20th-century Bengalis