The Suhrawardy ministry, the fourth and last cabinet of Bengal Province in British India, formed on the eve of the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

. It was constituted in 1946 under the leadership of

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (8 September 18925 December 1963) was an East Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 to 1957 and before that as the Prime Minister of Bengal from 1946 to ...

, the leader of the

Bengal Provincial Muslim League The Bengal Provincial Muslim League (BPML) was the branch of the All India Muslim League in the British Indian province of Bengal. It was established in Dhaka on 2 March 1912. Its official language was Bengali. The party played an important rol ...

(BPML) and the chief minister of Bengal, and lasted until 1947. Following the partition of Bengal, the ministry was succeeded by the First Ghosh ministry in the western part and the Second Nazimuddin ministry in the eastern part.

Background

In 1943, under the leadership of

Khawaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin (19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964), also spelled Khwaja Nazimuddin, was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the second Governor-General of Pakistan from 1948 to 1951, and later as the second Prime Minister ...

, the parliamentary leader of the

(BPML), a branch of the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

(AIML), a provincial cabinet was formed in Bengal Province of British India. Around the same time, the Pakistan Resolution of the AIML was gaining popularity among the Muslims of the province, and the political party itself was growing in influence. Simultaneously, Nazimuddin's cabinet was increasingly criticized by the opposition for administrative corruption and failure to address the

Bengal famine of 1943 The Bengal famine of 1943 was a famine in the Bengal province of British India (present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal and eastern India) during World War II. An estimated 800,000–3.8 million people died, in the Bengal region (present-day Ban ...

. As a result, Nazimuddin's influence within the BPML began to wane, while the influence of

started to rise. Although Nazimuddin's ministry enjoyed support from the British authorities, the party lost a no-confidence motion after losing 21 assembly members in 1945. Consequently,

Syed Nausher Ali Syed Nausher Ali (1891 – 6 April 1972) was an Indian left-leaning politician in West and East Bengal (now India and Bangladesh) during British rule. He was a cabinet member in the first A. K. Fazlul Huq ministry and later the Speaker of the Le ...

, the Speaker of the

Bengal Legislative Assembly The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislatures of British India, legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal Presidency, Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It ...

, declared the dissolution of the cabinet after a parliamentary vote. Although the BPML won in the

1946 Bengal Legislative Assembly election Legislative assembly elections for the Bengal Legislative Assembly were held in January 1946 as part of the 1946 Indian provincial elections. Seats The allocation of 250 seats in the assembly was based on the communal award. It is illustrated in ...

, it failed to secure an absolute majority. Despite attempting to form a coalition cabinet with the Bengal Provincial Congress (BPC), the provincial branch of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(INC), the effort was unsuccessful. Eventually, on 24 April 1946, a cabinet was formed under the leadership of Suhrawardy with seven ministers. Later, on 21 November 1946, with the removal of one and the addition of four members, the cabinet was expanded and responsibilities were redistributed.

Dissolution

In 1947, the INC and the AIML agreed to the

, leading to the creation of the modern states of India and Pakistan. In 20 June of the same year, when an election was held regarding the

second partition of Bengal The Partition of Bengal in 1947, also known as the Second Partition of Bengal, part of the Partition of India, divided the British Indian Bengal Province along the Radcliffe Line between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. Th ...

, the majority of votes in the Bengal Legislative Assembly were in favor of the partition. However, at that time, Suhrawardy's cabinet remained in Calcutta, the capital of Bengal Province. In 27 June, an emergency session of the Working Committee of the BPML decided to establish the capital of the proposed Pakistani Bengal in Dacca. In 3 July, under the leadership of

Prafulla Chandra Ghosh Prafulla Chandra Ghosh (24 December 1891 – 18 December 1983) was the first Premier of West Bengal, India from 15 August 1947 to 14 August 1948. He also served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal in the "Progressive Democratic Alliance Fron ...

, the leader of the BPC, a shadow cabinet was formed for the future state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. In 18 July, the Indian Independence Act was passed in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

and received royal assent, clearing the way for the partition of Bengal Province into the Indian state of West Bengal and the Pakistani province of

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

. On 5 August 1947, Suhrawardy lost the parliamentary leadership election of the BPML by 36 votes, and Khawaja Nazimuddin was elected the new leader. On 15 August 1947, the day after Pakistan's independence, a new cabinet was formed in Dacca, the capital of the newly created province of East Bengal, under the leadership of Nazimuddin. On the other hand, following

India's independence The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic movement t ...

on 15 August 1947, the shadow cabinet of West Bengal became the state’s first official government.

Members

The cabinet was composed of the following ministers:

Former members

The list of former members of the cabinet is given below:

References

{{reflist Bengal Presidency Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Partition of India Cabinets established in 1946 Cabinets disestablished in 1947 1946 establishments in British India 1947 disestablishments in India