Madan Mitra

Madan Mitra (born 3 December 1954) is an Indian politician and social worker. Madan Mitra started his career with party Indian National Congress. He held many positions of Indian Youth Congress, the party's youth wing. In 1998, he joined All India Trinamool Congress party, founded by his colleague Mamata Banerjee. In 2011, he was elected to the legislative assembly and became a state minister. Mitra is an accused in the Saradha Group financial scandal. He was arrested in 2014 and was released on bail in 2016. In 2016, he lost the state assembly election.

Madan Mitra
Madan Mitra in 2020
Minister In Charge Sports & Transport, West Bengal
In office
20 May 2011 – 18 November 2015
Preceded bySubrata Bakshi
Succeeded byAroop Biswas & Mamata Banerjee
Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly
In office
2011–2016
Preceded byManas Mukherjee
Succeeded byManas Mukherjee
ConstituencyKamarhati
Personal details
Born (1954-12-03) 3 December 1954
Bhowanipore, Kolkata
Political partyAll India Trinamool Congress Indian National Congress
ResidenceBhowanipore
Alma materCalcutta University
OccupationPolitician
Websitewww.madanmitra.com

Early life

Mitra hails from an aristocratic family of Bhowanipore, Kolkata.[1] In 1971, he passed out from South Suburban School. He received an under-graduate degree in history from Calcutta University in 1976.[2]

Political career

Early years

In 1973, Mitra entered politics and became the president of the students' union of Ashutosh College. He later became the south Kolkata president of the Indian Youth Congress. Initially, he belonged to the Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi faction. However, in 1976 he first switched to the Somen Mitra faction and then to the Mamata Banerjee faction. In 1990, he was appointed general secretary of the West Bengal unit of the Indian Youth Congress.[1] He launched a taxi drivers' union the 1990s and also wrested the union of the SSKM Hospital.[3]

Mamata Banerjee founded the Trinamool Congress in 1998. Mitra was initially hesitant to join the new party. In 2000, he was appointed general secretary of the party. Four years later, he became the president of the Trinamool Youth Congress.[1]

Electoral politics

In 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Mitra was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the Kamarhati constituency.[4] He became the sports minister and transport minister in the First Mamata Banerjee ministry.[5][6] On 18 November 2015, he resigned from the cabinet after being named as an accused in the Saradha Group financial scandal.[7]

Mitra lost the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election from his constituency. He was defeated by Manash Mukherjee of Communist Party of India (Marxist) by a margin of 4,198 votes.[8] Following the defeat, he was relegated to the fringes of the party. On 26 April 2019, Mamata Banerjee announced that Mitra would contest the upcoming by-election for Bhatpara constituency which had become vacant due to the defection of Arjun Singh to the Bharatiya Janata Party But he loses to Arjun Singh Son Pawan Singh.[9][10]

Personal life

Madan Mitra is married to Mrs. Archana Mitra. They have two sons, Swarup Mitra and Subhorup Mitra. While Swarup is a businessman, Subhorup is a youth politician.[11][12] Swarup's son Maharup was born in 2015.[13]

Controversies

In 2012, Mitra questioned the morals of Suzette Jordan, the Park Street rape victim for befriending strangers at 2 am.[14]

On 13 December 2014, Mitra was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation for his alleged role in Saradha Group financial scandal. Mamata Banerjee claimed that the arrest was an example of political vendetta of the Bharatiya Janata Party.[15] While in jail, he was admitted to a hospital in November 2015 after complained of "uneasiness".[16] In September 2016, he was granted bail[17] and hasn't been admitted to the hospital since.

Mitra was interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate in September 2017 following the Narada sting operation.[18]

References
  1. Bandyopadhyay, Krishnendu (13 December 2014). "Saradha scam: The fall of a fierce Mamata loyalist". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  2. "Madan Mitra". My Neta. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  3. Bagchi, Subhojit (15 December 2014). "The rise and fall of Madan Mitra". The Hindu. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  4. Sengupta, Tamal (23 January 2016). "Jailed Trinamool Cong MLA Madan Mitra to contest assembly polls this time too". The Economic Times. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  5. "10 crorepatis in Mamata's ministry". Hindustan Times. 27 May 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  6. Sengupta, Tamal (24 September 2012). "How West Bengal transport minister Madan Mitra's countered bandhs and strikes in the state". Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  7. "Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra steps down". The Hindu. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  8. "8 ministers, Madan Mitra among heavyweight losers". The Times of India. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  9. http://results.eci.gov.in/ac/en/constituencywise/ConstituencywiseS25105.htm?ac=105
  10. Snehamoy Chakraborty; Kaushik Sen (26 April 2019). "Bypoll stage for Madan Mitra comeback". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  11. "The rising son of the Mitra clan". The Times of India. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  12. Dutta, Soumen (11 November 2015). "CBI to quiz Mitra's son for wedding costs". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  13. Banerjee, Tamoghna (10 September 2016). "Happy but cautious: Madan Mitra's family over his release". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  14. "TMC MP insinuates Park Street victim is sex worker". Hindustan Times. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  15. "Saradha scam: CBI arrests Mamata's close aide and Bengal minister Madan Mitra". The Times of India. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  16. "West Bengal Minister Madan Mitra Admitted to Hospital in Kolkata". NDTV. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  17. "Former TMC minister Madan Mitra granted bail". The Hindu. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  18. "CBI Interrogates Ex-Bengal Minister Madan Mitra In Narada Case". NDTV. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
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