Surjya Kanta Mishra

Surjya Kanta Mishra is an Indian politician, belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He served as Minister of Health and Minister in-charge of Land & Land Reforms, Panchayats & Rural Development in the Left Front governments of West Bengal[1][2] and was the Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), West Bengal State Committee between 2015 and 2022.

Surjya Kanta Mishra
Misra at a meeting to assess implementation of safe drinking water, rural sanitation and NREGA schemes, in Kolkata, 1 June 2007.
Member of Polit Bureau, Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Assumed office
April 2012
West Bengal State Secretary of the CPI(M)
In office
2015–2022
Preceded byBiman Bose
Succeeded byMd. Salim
Cabinet Minister, Government of West Bengal
In office
16 May 1991 – 13 May 2011
Chief MinisterJyoti Basu
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
MinistryHealth & Family Welfare, Biotechnology, Panchayat Affairs & Rural Development
Preceded byPrasanta Chandra Sur
Succeeded bySubrata Mukherjee
Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal
In office
1 June 2011 – 19 May 2016
DeputySubhas Naskar
Preceded byPartha Chatterjee
Succeeded byAbdul Mannan
Member of Legislative Assembly, West Bengal
In office
1991–2016
Preceded byBibhuti Bhusan De
Succeeded byPradyot Kumar Ghosh
ConstituencyNarayangarh
Personal details
Born (1949-04-18) 18 April 1949
Narayangarh, West Bengal, India
Political partyCPI(M)
SpouseUsha Misra
Residence(s)Narayangarh, West Midnapore, West Bengal
Alma materSCB Medical College (MBBS)
Midnapore College (BSc)
ProfessionPolitician, Social worker, Doctor

After the 2011 assembly election he was elected as Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in May 2011.[1] He was inducted into the politburo of the CPI(M) following the death of veteran leader M.K. Pandhe in 2011.[3][4] In 2015, he was elected as the state secretary of CPI(M) in West Bengal, succeeding Biman Bose.

Early life

Mishra was born in Khakurda in Narayangarh. He is a qualified doctor. He received his MBBS degree from Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack in 1971 and then a Diploma in Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases in 1974.[5]

He also studied in Medinipur College and University of Calcutta.

Early political life

Mishra's emergence in the political arena happened in the early 1970s, when he joined Students' Federation of India. Senior party leader Biman Bose heard the then SFI leader deliver a speech in Midnapore. Bose nudged Mishra to join politics full-time. [6]

He was also involved in the peasants movement in the district and was associated with All India Kisan Sabha.

Surjya Kanta Mishra became a member of CPI(M) in 1973. He unsuccessfully contested the 1977 assembly election from the Narayangarh.

The following year he contested a district council seat from Narayangarh. He was elected as the Chairperson of the Medinipur Zila Parishad in 1978 and served until 1991.

Political career

In 1991, he was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and was inducted into the state cabinet as a cabinet minister. He continued to represent Narayangarh till 2016.

Within his capacity as a cabinet minister he served in the Land & Land Reforms, Panchayats & Rural Development departments. He has also served as Minister-In-Charge of Health and Family Welfare, Biotechnology. He remained in the state cabinet till 2011.

He became a state committee member in 1988 and a state secretariat member in 1995. He was elected to the Central committee of the party in 2002. He was elevated to the Politburo of the party in 2012.

Mishra, regarded as a hardliner, was part of the team that voted against Jyoti Basu becoming prime minister of a Left supported Congress-led government in 1996. Again, he was the one who, other hardliners, thought withdrawing support to UPA-I in 2008 over the US nuke deal was right.

After the defeat of the CPI(M) in the 2011 assembly election he was elected as Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in May 2011 and continued till 2016. He was defeated in the 2016 assembly election as a candidate in Narayangarh.

In 2015, he succeeded Biman Bose as the secretary of the West Bengal state committee. He is also a member of the all India working committee of All India Kisan Sabha. He was re-elected as secretary of the West Bengal state committee in 2018.

In 2022, he stepped down from his position as secretary of the West Bengal state committee and was succeeded by Md. Salim. He also left the membership of the state committee owing to the age-limit. He continued to be a member of the central committee and politburo of CPI(M).

However, he continues to be active in the political space in the state.

Personal life

Mishra is married to Usha Misra. The couple has two daughters.

Even after shifting base to Kolkata and becoming a heavy weight minister in the state cabinet, Mishra stuck to his roots.

References
  1. "Surjya Kanta Mishra: A profile". The Hindu. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. Chaturvedi, Pradeep. Food Security and Panchayati Raj. New Delhi: Published for Indian Association for the Advancement of Science and Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations by Concept Pub. Co, 1997. p. 289
  3. Sengupta, Anindya (20 January 2012). "Rising sun in CPM's cloudy sky". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  4. tripurainfo.com. Surja Kanta predicts 7th Left Front government
  5. "Surjyakanta Mishra(Communist Party of India (Marxist)(CPI(M))):Constituency- NARAYANGARH(PASCHIM MEDINIPUR) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". myneta.info. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  6. "Daktar babu takes on Didi: Can Surjya Kanta Mishra give CPM a booster shot?". indiatoday.in. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
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