KV Prasad
New Delhi, October 31
A stentorian voice of workers and toiling masses, Gurudas Dasgupta (83), who died in Kolkata on Thursday following prolonged illness, remained a quintessential Communist, simple, approachable and steadfast to the cause. Dasgupta is survived by his wife and daughter. He was suffering from lung cancer for quite some time.
Joining the Communist Party of India (CPI) in 1953, he was elected general secretary of the Bengal Provincial Students Federation a year later.
Honing his fiery brand of politics of agitation as a student leader, Dasgupta put it to effective use throughout his political career.
After entering the Rajya Sabha in 1985, he made his mark through scorching questions on issues dogging labour and trade unions at a time when the country was transiting from a closed economy onto the path of reforms.
With a galaxy of Left leaders, including Indrajit Gupta, AB Bardhan, Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Jyoti Basu, he worked for the massive labour rally at the Boat Club in Delhi protesting the dawn of economic reforms policy dubbed LPG (Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation) ushered in 1991 by Finance Minister Manmohan Singh in the PV Narasimha Rao government. Some two decades later, he galvanised trade unions of different hues to organise an all-India strike against policies of the Manmohan Singh government.
His presence in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on securities scam involving Harshad Mehta and others aided the panel scoop out intricate layers of transactions and dealings on a technical subject that specialists took time to decipher.
As a Member of Parliament, in the Rajya Sabha for three terms (1985-2000) and in the Lok Sabha for two terms (2004-2014), Dasgupta remained committed to the cause of workers and was always leading the brigade for equitable treatment of labour and remained sceptical over successive government’s eagerness to change labour laws.
After his election as the general secretary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), for the sake of labour no cause was too small. He buried ideological differences to bring unions owing allegiance to various political parties on a single platform on issues agitating the working classes.
In her homage, AITUC general secretary Amarjit Kaur said, “He was respected by all for his effective interventions in the parliamentary debates. He raised the issues of working class, rural poor masses, farmers in distress and the plight of working women.”
Ironically, Dasgupta breathed his last three days short of what would have been his 83rd birthday, but on a day the AITUC was formed in 1920 and is observing its centenary.
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2N4PXK0
via Today’s News Headlines
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