Forward Bloc leader Chitta Basu dead

Forward Bloc leader Chitta Basu, MP, died of a heart attack on the Danapur Express between Madhupur and Jasidih stations in Bihar on Sunday morning.

He was 72 and a bachelor.

He was travelling to Calcutta from Patna after attending a party meeting there.

Born in 1926 in Dhaka, Basu graduated from Dalatpur college in Khulna district. He later did his masters from the University of Calcutta.

Deeply inspired by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, he joined the Forward Bloc in 1945. He became the party's youth wing, All-India Yuba League's general secretary in 1947-48.

After Partition, Basu immersed himself in refugee rehabilitation work. In 1972, he became the party's central committee member and then the general secretary in 1977, a post that he held till his death.

He was first elected to the state assembly from Barasat constituency of the then undivided 24 Parganas in 1957. In 1966, he became a Rajya Sabha member. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Barasat constituency in 1977. In 1996, he became a member of the United Front steering committee meeting.

UNI