Niranjan Sengupta

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Niranjan Sengupta (26 July 1904 – 4 September 1969) was a Bengali freedom fighter and later a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He began as a revolutionary with the Anushilan Samiti, worked to unite Bengal’s revolutionary groups, and helped arrange arms from his Mechuabazar home.

Born in Barishal (in present-day Bangladesh), he studied in Barishal and Calcutta. He became a student leader at Ripon College and, in 1925, led India’s first elected student union. He was arrested in 1925 and sent to jail; later, in 1932, he was sent to the Cellular Jail, where he adopted Marxist ideas. He joined the Communist Party of India in 1938 and became an important party activist.

After independence, Sengupta entered politics in West Bengal. He was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Bijpur (1957–1962), and later represented Tollygunge (1962–1967, 1967–1968, and 1969). He served as Minister of Refugee, Relief and Rehabilitation and Jails in the West Bengal government in 1967–1968 and again in 1969, during a coalition period.

Niranjan Sengupta died on 4 September 1969 in Calcutta. He is remembered with a half‑bust statue at Ranikuthi More, a nearby road named Niranjan Sengupta Sarani, and the Niranjan Sadan performing arts venue at Bijoygarh.