Kolkata: Nine-time member of the Lok Sabha from West Bengal’s Bankura seat, senior CPI(M) politician Basudeb Acharia, passed away on Monday at the age of 81.
He spent a considerable amount of time receiving treatment at a private hospital in Hyderabad before he passed away.
In 1980, Acharia was first elected from Bankura. He was elected nine times in a row from that constituency till 2014.
To the surprise of the state’s political critics, he lost to actor-turned-politician Moon Moon Sen, a candidate for the Trinamool Congress, in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from that constituency.
According to party insiders, his daughter, who is now abroad, is scheduled to arrive in Hyderabad tomorrow, when his last rites will be performed.
Acharia was born in the Purulia region of West Bengal on July 11, 1942, and has been involved in socialist politics since his time as a student.
Later, he progressed from students’ politics to trade union politics and was the leading face of workers’ movements in the railways department.
He also played an active role in tribal education in Bankura district, the tribal- dominated district in West Bengal from where he was the Lok Sabha member for a prolonged period.
He was also a central committee member of the party for a long time.
During the 2018 elections for the three- tier panchayat system in the state, he was attacked allegedly by the ruling Trinamool Congress activists while leading a procession of CPI(M) workers at Purulia. He was severely injured in the attack.
