Siddhartha Shankar Ray

Siddhartha Shankar Ray (20 October 1920 – 6 November 2010) was an Indian lawyer, diplomat and Indian National Congress politician from West Bengal. In his political career he held a number of offices, including Chief Minister of West Bengal (1972–77), Union Minister of Education (1971–72), Governor of Punjab (1986–89) and Indian Ambassador to the United States (1992–96). He was, at one point, the main troubleshooter for the Congress Party.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Siddhartha Shankar Ray
5th Chief Minister of West Bengal
In office
20 March 1972 – 30 April 1977
Preceded byPresident's rule
Succeeded byPresident's rule
18th Indian Ambassador to the United States
In office
1992–1996
Prime MinisterP. V. Narasimha Rao
Preceded byAbid Hussain
Succeeded byNaresh Chandra
22nd Governor of Punjab
In office
2 April 1986 – 8 December 1989
Chief MinisterSurjit Singh Barnala
Preceded byShankar Dayal Sharma
Succeeded byNirmal Mukarji
Minister of Education
In office
1971–1972
Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi
Preceded byV.K.R.V. Rao
Succeeded byS. Nurul Hasan
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
1971–1972
Preceded byChapala Kanta Bhattacharjee
Succeeded byMaya Ray
ConstituencyRaiganj
Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly
In office
1967-1971 – 1991-1993
Preceded byDebi Prasad Chattopadhyay
Succeeded byAnil Chatterjee
ConstituencyChowranghee
In office
1957–1967
Preceded byMira Dutta Gupta
Succeeded byconstituency abolished
ConstituencyBhawanipur
Personal details
Born(1920-10-20)20 October 1920
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died6 November 2010(2010-11-06) (aged 90)
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Political partyIndian National Congress
Height6'4(193 cm)
SpouseMaya Ray
Alma materPresidency College, Calcutta
Inner Temple (Barrister-at-Law)
ProfessionLawyer, Diplomat

Biography

Ray was born in a Bengali Baidya[7] family. Ray's father, Sudhir Kumar Ray, was a well known barrister of Calcutta High Court and a member of the Indian National Congress and his mother Aparna Devi, was the elder daughter of the barrister and nationalist leader Chittaranjan Das and Basanti Devi grew up in England. Ray's sister is Justice Manjula Bose (1930–2016) who was a senior judge of the Calcutta High Court; along with Padma Khastagir, she was one of the first female judges of the Calcutta High Court. Ray was also related to Sudhi Ranjan Das, a former Chief Justice of India and Satish Ranjan Das, a former Advocate General of Bengal and a Law Member of the Viceroy's Executive Council.

Ray studied at, Mitra Institution, Bhowanipore Branch, Calcutta, Presidency College, Calcutta and University Law College, of the University of Calcutta. In college and university, he was active in both sports and politics. In 1941, he was elected as student Under-Secretary in the Calcutta University Institute Elections and was put in charge from time to time of various departments including Students' Aid Fund, Debates, Sports and Socials. He was also the Debate Secretary and later the General Secretary of the Calcutta University Law College Union. As a sportsman he captained the Presidency College cricket team. He was the captain of the team that won the Inter Collegiate cricket Championship in 1944. He had scored three double centuries and 1000 runs for three consecutive seasons. He was also a keen footballer in Calcutta playing for the Kalighat Club. He was a University Blue in this sport and represented the Calcutta University in inter-varsity matches. In 1939, he was the captain of the victorious Presidency College football team which won both the Elliot and Hardinge Birthday Shields. He was also interested in lawn tennis and table tennis.

Later Ray was called to the bar by the Honourable Society of Inner Temple, London, in 1947.[8] While in London he played cricket for the Indian Gymkhana Club.

Career

Upon his return from England in 1946, Ray joined the Calcutta Bar as a junior of Justice Ramaprasad Mukherjee, who later became a Judge and Chief Justice (Acting) of the High Court of Calcutta. In 1954 he became one of the three junior Central Government counsels in Calcutta.

In 1957 he was elected to the Bhowanipore Assembly seat which he won by a large majority, becoming the youngest member of the West Bengal Cabinet under the leadership of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy. He was appointed Minister of Tribal Welfare and Law Department, West Bengal. In 1962, he was re-elected to the state's Legislative Assembly as an Independent Candidate. In 1971, he became the Union Cabinet Minister of Education & Youth Services for the Government of India. He was also the Union Cabinet Minister of West Bengal Affairs of the Government of India.

After the Congress won the general election of 1972, he became the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 19 March 1972 to 30 April 1977. He took office shortly after the Bangladesh Liberation War, and his administration was faced with the massive problem of resettling over a million refugees in various parts of the state. The crackdown on Naxalites also took place during this period.[9] During his tenture, the Garden Reach Water Treatment Plant was set up in South Kolkata. This was one his biggest achievements.

Later, he had the distinction of serving as the Governor of Punjab from 2 April 1986 to 8 December 1989. When the Congress came back to power once again in Delhi in 1991, Ray was sent as Ambassador of India to the United States. He remained in the United States from 1992 to 1996. Prior to that, he was the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 1991 to 1992.

Role in the emergency

Siddhartha Shankar Ray had a major role in the imposition of The Emergency from 1975 to 1977. He proposed to the prime minister Indira Gandhi to impose an "internal emergency" and also drafted a letter for the President to issue the proclamation and showed her how democratic freedom could be suspended while remaining within the ambit of the Constitution.[10][11]

Retirement

During his retirement between 1996 and 2010, Ray returned to his law practice as a Barrister of the Calcutta High Court.

Ray died of kidney failure on 6 November 2010 at the age of 90.[12]

Legacy

A philanthropic society named "Siddhartha Shankar Ray Foundation"[13] was formed by Mr. Rajesh Chirimar in memory of Ray with the due consent of Maya Ray. The society engages in various social activities and will be celebrating the Birth Centenary Year of Shri Siddhartha Shankar Ray.

References
  1. "National : S.S. Ray in hospital". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 28 March 2010. Archived from the original on 3 April 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  2. "Welcome to Sri Chinmoy Library". srichinmoylibrary.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  3. "Siddhartha Shankar Ray ill – Yahoo! India News". in.news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  4. "A Wily Survivor". outlookindia.com. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  5. "There Are More Anti-American Indians Than Anti-Indian Americans". outlookindia.com. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  6. "Ray recalls his fights, friendship with a great human being". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 18 January 2010. Archived from the original on 21 January 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  7. Dutta-Ray, Sunanda (4 June 2016). "WB Polls: Mamata's triumph, a victory of class over caste". Free Press Journal (News Paper). The Free Prees Journal. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  8. Sengupta, Ranjana (25 September 1988). "A man of many faces". The Indian Express. p. 24. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  9. Austin, Granville (1999). Working a Democratic Constitution - A History of the Indian Experience. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 237. ISBN 0-19-565610-5.
  10. Lt. Gen J.F.R. Jacob (2012). An Odyssey in War and Peace. 262: Roli Books Private Limited. p. 189. ISBN 9788174369338.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  11. Narayan, S (25 June 2020). "[Explained] Why Did Indira Gandhi Impose Emergency In 1975?". The Hans India.
  12. "Former WB CM Siddhartha Shankar Ray dies - India News - IBNLive". ibnlive.in.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  13. "Siddhartha Shankar Ray Foundation". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
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