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Sovandeb Chattopadhyay
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Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay is an Indian politician representing Trinamool Congress and is the first elected MLA of the party (elected in 1998). He was the founder president of INTTUC, the labour wing of Trinamool Congress.
Key Information
Worked in Kolkata Municipal Corporation as a Employee.
Life and career
[edit]He is one of the close associates of Mamata Banerjee since mid 80s and was a prominent face in her fights against CPI(M). He is also one of the founding members of Trinamool Congress in 1998.
He was the Government Chief Whip of his first TMC government in the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha from 2011 to 2016. On 27 May 2016 he took charge as the Hon'ble Minister of Power & Non Conventional Energy, Government of West Bengal.[1]
A boxer in his younger days, he is a veteran trade union leader, holding degrees in science and law.[2][3] He is president of Kolkata Auto Rickshaw Operators' Union.[4]
He won the Baruipur seat as a Congress candidate in 1991 and 1996[5][6] and as a Trinamool Congress candidate won the Rasbehari seat in 2001 and 2006.[7][8] In 2011 he was pitted against a green-horn and won by nearly 50,000 votes and was further re-elected in 2016. Currently he is the Minister-in-Charge, Department of Agriculture and Parliamentary Affairs in the Government of West Bengal.[2] He resigned from his seat in the Bhabanipur (Vidhan Sabha constituency) for CM Mamata Banerjee to contest West Bengal Legislative Assembly by-election.[9] He then contested the by election from Khardah (Vidhan Sabha constituency) and won with a margin of 93,832 votes.
He presently serves as a Minister in West Bengal Cabinet and also as the Deputy Leader of the House in West Bengal Legislative Assembly.
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Ganguly, Arnab (16 May 2011). "Mamata issues model code Dos and don'ts for Trinamul ranks". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ a b Mitra, Tirthankar. "A one-sided contest more than ever before". The Statesman 19 April 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ "DIAL M FOR MLA". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ "Strike may bring city to a standstill today". The Statesman 6 September 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ "General Elections, India, 1991, to the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal" (PDF). Constituency-wise Data. Election Commission. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ^ "General Elections, India, 1996, to the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal" (PDF). Constituency-wise Data. Election Commission. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ^ "General Elections, India, 2001, to the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal" (PDF). Constituency-wise Data. Election Commission. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ^ "General Elections, India, 2006, to the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal" (PDF). Constituency-wise Data. Election Commission. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ^ "Bhabanipur bypolls: Mamata Banerjee, Priyanka Tibrewal, Srijib Biswas in fray on Sept 30; key facts". www.cnbctv18.com. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
Sovandeb Chattopadhyay
View on GrokipediaEarly Life and Background
Family Origins and Upbringing
Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay was born in 1944 in Kolkata, West Bengal, to Kashinath Chattopadhyay, who maintained a modest livelihood through a small shop and supplementary work as a priest while participating in India's freedom struggle.[8][9][2] Raised in a bhadralok household in Kolkata's Bhowanipore area, Chattopadhyay's early years were marked by familial emphasis on moral values amid post-independence urban life.[8] His father Kashinath's dual roles as shopkeeper and priest underscored a commitment to community service and ethical living, influencing the family's socioeconomic context in mid-20th-century Bengal.[8] In his formative years, Chattopadhyay pursued boxing with distinction, achieving championship status at age twelve, which highlighted his physical discipline and early exposure to competitive sports in Kolkata's sporting circles.[8] He also assisted in priestly duties from a young age, reflecting the family's religious engagements, though he later declined a short-service commission in the Navy at his mother's insistence, opting instead for civilian paths.[8]Education and Initial Professional Pursuits
Chattopadhyay completed a Bachelor of Science degree at Ashutosh College, affiliated with the University of Calcutta, in 1965. He later pursued legal studies, earning a Bachelor of Laws from Hazra Law College, also under the University of Calcutta, in 1971.[9][10] Prior to his prominent role in electoral politics, Chattopadhyay worked as an employee in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation while developing a career in trade unionism. He became a veteran leader in labor organizations, heading unions such as the Kolkata Municipal Corporation workers' union, which represented approximately 16,000 members, and the Kolkata Auto Rickshaw Operators' union. His early professional activities centered on social work and advocacy for workers' rights, laying the foundation for his later organizational leadership within political parties' labor wings.[11][1]Political Career
Affiliation with Indian National Congress
Sovandeb Chattopadhyay was a member of the Indian National Congress prior to his departure in 1998. During his tenure with the party, he contested and won the Baruipur Assembly constituency in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections of 1991 and 1996 as a Congress candidate.[12] These victories marked his entry into state-level politics, representing a constituency in South 24 Parganas district.[13] Chattopadhyay's involvement with Congress included associations with its labor-oriented activities, as evidenced by his later establishment of a Trinamool trade union wing modeled after the Congress-affiliated Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC).[13] Specific details on his organizational roles or leadership positions within the party's West Bengal unit during this period remain limited in available records.Transition to Trinamool Congress
Chattopadhyay, affiliated with the Indian National Congress since 1976, transitioned to the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 1998 shortly after its founding on January 11 by Mamata Banerjee, who had been expelled from Congress in 1997 amid internal party disputes over leadership and alliances.[14] As a sitting Congress MLA from the Baruipur constituency—having won there in 1991 and 1996—he cut short his term to contest the ensuing by-election on the TMC ticket, securing victory on June 26, 1998, and becoming the party's inaugural elected MLA.[13] This switch aligned with a broader exodus of Congress dissidents to TMC, driven by dissatisfaction with national Congress leadership under Sitaram Kesri, particularly its perceived overtures toward the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) in West Bengal.[1] The move positioned Chattopadhyay as a foundational figure in TMC's early organizational buildup, leveraging his background as a trade union leader within Congress-affiliated Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) to establish TMC's parallel labor wing, the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress.[13] His retention of the Baruipur seat demonstrated immediate voter acceptance of the new party in a CPI(M)-dominated state, where TMC positioned itself as an anti-Left alternative without fully breaking from Congress's secular and pro-poor rhetoric. By 2001, he shifted to contesting from Rashbehari, winning successive terms and solidifying his role in TMC's expansion against both Congress and the Left Front.[15]Electoral History and Constituency Shifts
Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay began his electoral career with the Indian National Congress, winning the Baruipur Purba Assembly constituency in the 1991 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election and retaining it in 1996.[16][5] Following the formation of the Trinamool Congress on January 1, 1998, he resigned from his Baruipur seat and contested the Rashbehari by-election later that year as a TMC candidate, securing victory with 31,979 votes (53.44% of the vote share) and becoming the party's first elected MLA.[13][17][18] Chattopadhyay consolidated his position with TMC by winning the Rashbehari constituency in the subsequent general elections of 2001 and 2006, followed by victories in 2011 and 2016, marking five consecutive terms from that Kolkata South seat.[15][9] In a notable shift ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election, he contested from Bhabanipur instead of Rashbehari, defeating Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rudranil Ghosh to retain the seat for TMC.[19][20] To accommodate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's candidacy, Chattopadhyay vacated the Bhabanipur seat in May 2021, prompting a by-election that Banerjee won in September.[21] He then shifted to the Khardaha constituency for the October 30, 2021, by-election, achieving a landslide victory with a margin of nearly 94,000 votes, significantly boosting TMC's performance in that North 24 Parganas seat.[22][23] These constituency changes reflect strategic adjustments within TMC, moving from rural Baruipur to urban Kolkata seats and then to suburban Khardaha amid party leadership needs.[13]| Election Year | Constituency | Party | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Baruipur Purba | INC | Won | General election[16] |
| 1996 | Baruipur Purba | INC | Won | General election[5] |
| 1998 (Bypoll) | Rashbehari | TMC | Won (53.44%) | First TMC MLA; resigned prior INC seat[17][18] |
| 2001 | Rashbehari | TMC | Won | General election[15] |
| 2006 | Rashbehari | TMC | Won | General election[15] |
| 2011 | Rashbehari | TMC | Won | General election[24] |
| 2016 | Rashbehari | TMC | Won | General election[9] |
| 2021 | Bhabanipur | TMC | Won | General election; later vacated[19] |
| 2021 (Bypoll) | Khardaha | TMC | Won (~94,000 margin) | Post-vacation shift[22] |
