Suranjit Sengupta

Suranjit Sengupta (5 May 1945 – 5 February 2017)[2] was a Bangladesh Awami League politician. He resigned in 2012 as the first Railway Minister of Bangladesh.[3][4] He was the member of parliament from Sunamganj-2 constituency in the Jatiya Sangsad and a member of the party's advisory council. He was the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry.[5]

Suranjit Sengupta
সুরঞ্জিৎ সেনগুপ্ত
Minister of Railway
In office
6 December 2011 – 18 April 2012
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byObaidul Quader
Personal details
Born(1945-07-07)7 July 1945
Anwarpur, Sylhet District, Assam Province, British India[1]
Died5 February 2017(2017-02-05) (aged 71)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
NationalityBangladeshi
Political partyBangladesh Awami League
SpouseJoya Sengupta
ChildrenSoumen Sengupta
EducationMA, LLB[1]
Occupationpolitician, lawyer

Early life and education

Sengupta was born in a Bengali Baidya family of Derai Upazila, Sunamganj District, to Devendra Nath Sengupta and Sumati Bala Sengupta.[6] Among four brothers and a sister, he was the youngest.[7] He completed his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Dhaka. He earned his LLB at the Central Law College and practised law for a while.[8]

Career

Sengupta started his career as a lawyer. He became a member of Supreme Court Bar Council.[6] He started his political career with leftist parties. In 1970's National Election of Pakistan, he was elected from the Sylhet District as a candidate of the National Awami Party in the Provincial Assembly. He participated in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 as a sub-commander of the Sector-5.[8] In the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh, he was a vocal member of the opposition bench.[8] In the 1973 Bangladeshi general election he stood as a nominee of the National Awami Party faction led by Muzaffar Ahmed (NAP (M)).[9] In 1979, he represented the Ekota Party in the House and in 1991, the Ganatantri Party.[8] He joined Bangladesh Awami League party in 1996, but lost the national election that year. But he made it to parliament through a by-election. He represented Sunamganj-2 constituency in the next three parliaments.[8]

On 24 February 1996, prior to the controversial elections that month, police raided his house along with those of Amir Hossain Amu and Abdur Razzak under the Special Powers Act, but were unable to locate him.[10]

In November 2011, Sengupta was made a cabinet member of the newly formed Railways Ministry.[8] But after a bribery scandal became known, leaders from both the Bangladesh Workers Party and the Awami League called for him to resign.[4] He served as a minister without a portfolio. He was not selected for a cabinet position after the 2014 election.[8]

Railway bribery scandal

Sengupta took over as Railways Minister and resigned after 5 months on an allegation of bribery.[4][11] He was accused of direct involvement in corruption of 100 million Taka. On 9 April 2012 his assistant personal secretary, general manager of the eastern region, and commandant of security were driving to Sengupta's residence with 7.4 million Taka of bribe money, when the driver Azam Khan turned them in.[4][12] On 17 April 2012, Sengupta was appointed minister without portfolio one day after submitting his resignation as Railways Minister and after being accused of bribery.[13][14]

Amar Desh allegations of corruption

On 31 March 2013, the newspaper Amar Desh published a report stating that Sengupta demanded a thirty million taka bribe from an orphanage project, and cancelled the project's funding when his demand was refused. Sengupta commented on the report, saying, "The matter of asking for a three crore bribe is a complete lie. There are 36–37 education institutions in my area. But the huge funding of this project created a negative impression with the local institutions. So I suggested distributing the fund equally to the existing institutions in order to eliminate the negativity created."[15]

In April 2013, Sengupta brought a defamation case against the Amar Desh staff, including Mahmudur Rahman and an NGO official for the publishing of this report.[16][17]

Personal life and death

Sengupta was married to Joya Sengupta. Together they had one son, Showmon Sengupta.[7]

Sengupta died on 5 February 2017 at LabAid hospital in Dhaka.[18][5]

References
  1. "Constituency 225". Bangladesh Parliament. 21 January 2014.
  2. Rashidul Hasan (5 February 2017). "Suranjit Sengupta: At a glance". The Daily Star. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  3. "Suranjit is back". The Daily Star. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  4. Majumder, Srabanti (13 April 2012). "Slap on the ugly face of corrupt Suranjit". Weekly Blitz. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  5. "AL leader Suranjit Sengupta dies". The Daily Star. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  6. Rashidul Hasan (5 February 2017). "Suranjit Sengupta: At a glance". The Daily Star. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  7. Sajidul Haque (5 February 2017). "Suranjit Sengupta's death marks 'end of an era'". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  8. "Veteran Awami League politician, parliamentarian Suranjit Sengupta dies". bdnews24.com. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  9. Chakravarty, S. R. (1988). Bangladesh, the Nineteen Seventy-nine Elections. New Delhi: South Asian Publishers. p. 124. ISBN 81-7003-088-9. Sree Suranjit Sen Gupta JEP Contested as NAP (M) candidate in 1970 and 1973 elections.
  10. "Bangladesh Political Violence On All Sides". Human Rights Watch. Vol. 8, no. 6. 1 June 1996.
  11. "Bangladesh rail minister resigns in corruption scandal". BBC News. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  12. "Tk 74 lakh was going to house of Suranjit". The Daily Star. 6 October 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  13. "Keeping Suranjit and Sohel at Cabinet: The Constitutional Debate". Banglanews24.com. 19 May 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  14. "Suranjit is back". The Daily Star. 18 April 2012.
  15. Chaudhuri, Kader Gani (31 March 2013). এতিম স্কুলের বরাদ্দ থেকে তিন কোটি টাকা ঘুষ দাবি সুরঞ্জিতের [Sengupta's three crore bribe demand from orphanage's funding]. Amar Desh (in Bengali). Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  16. "Amar Desh editor sued over report". The Daily Star. Dhaka. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  17. "Amar Desh editor prosecuted". New Age. 4 April 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  18. "Veteran Awami League politician, parliamentarian Suranjit Sengupta dies". bdnews24.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.


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