Gurudas Dasgupta

Gurudas Dasgupta
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 13 May 2004 – 16 May 2009
Preceded by	Bikram Sarkar
Succeeded by	constituency abolished
Constituency	Panskura
In office 16 May 2009 – 16 May 2014
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Dev
Constituency	Ghatal
Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) for West Bengal
In office 1985–1988
In office 1988–1994
In office 1994–2000
Personal details
Born	(1936-11-03)3 November 1936 Barisal, British India
Died	31 October 2019(2019-10-31) (aged 82) Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Political party	Communist Party of India
Spouse	Jayasri Dasgupta ​ (m. 1965)​
Children	1 daughter
Residence(s)	Bhawanipur, Bengal Presidency, British India
Alma mater	University of Calcutta Asutosh College (M.Com)

Gurudas Dasgupta (3 November 1936 – 31 October 2019) was an Indian politician and a leader of the Communist Party of India. In the 1950s and 60s, he held several offices as a student leader. Later he was a member of Rajya Sabha for three terms from 1985 to 2000 and of Lok Sabha for two terms from 2004 to 2014.

Biography

Gurudas Dasgupta was born to Nihar Devi and Durga Prosanna Dasgupta on 3 November 1936 in Barisal, British India (now in Bangladesh). On 18 June 1965, he married Jayashri Das Gupta.

He entered politics as a student leader. He served as the General Secretary of Asutosh College Students' Union in 1957 as well as the President and General Secretary of Undivided Bengal Provincial Students' Federation from 1958 to 1960. In 1965, he was detained under the Defence of India rules. He went into hiding several times during the 1950s–60s.

Dasgupta was the General Secretary of the West Bengal Committee of All India Youth Federation from 1967 to 1977. He was also General Secretary of West Bengal Youth Festival Preparatory Committee in 1968, 1970 and 1973. He led the Indian delegation at the World Youth Congress held in Budapest in 1970.

He remained in Communist Party of India (CPI) following its split in CPI and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) in 1964. In 1970s, he worked in the labour wing of the CPI. He served as the Vice President of All India Trade Union Congress and Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union.

He worked as a parliamentarian for 25 years. He was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1985, 1988 and 1994. Dasgupta was elected as the General Secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) in 2001. He was elected as a member of National Secretariat of CPI in 2004. In 2004, he was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from Panskura in West Bengal. In 2009, he was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Ghatal in West Bengal. He was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Harshad Mehta scam and on the 2G spectrum case.

Dasgupta died on 31 October 2019 due to complications of lung cancer.