Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (born 2 April 1956) is an Indian politician serving as the leader of the Indian National Congress in the 17th Lok Sabha and the Member of Parliament from Berhampore.[1] He is also the current president of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee following the demise of Somendra Nath Mitra.[2]

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
Leader of Indian National Congress in Lok Sabha
Assumed office
16 June 2019
PresidentRahul Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi (Interim)
Preceded byMallikarjun Kharge
President of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee
Assumed office
9 September 2020
Preceded bySomendra Nath Mitra
In office
11 February 2014  22 September 2018
Preceded byPradip Bhattacharya
Succeeded bySomendra Nath Mitra
Chairperson of Public Accounts Committee
Assumed office
26 July 2019
Appointed byOm Birla (Lok Sabha Speaker)
Preceded byMallikarjun Kharge
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Assumed office
1999
Preceded byPromothes Mukherjee
ConstituencyBerhampore
Minister of State for Railways
In office
28 October 2012  26 May 2014
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded byK.J. Surya Prakash Reddy
Succeeded byManoj Sinha
Rajen Gohain
Member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly
In office
1996–1999
Preceded bySisir Sarkar
Succeeded byNripen Choudhuri
ConstituencyNabagram
Personal details
Born (1956-04-02) 2 April 1956
Behrampore, West Bengal, India
Political partyIndian National Congress
Spouse(s)
  • Arpita Chowdhury
    (m. 1987; died 2019)
  • Atasi Chattopadhyaya Chowdhury
    (m. 2019)
Children2
Residence9, Haribabu Lane
P.O.-Cossimbazar
Berhampore - 2
West Bengal- 742102
ProfessionSocial worker, Politician

Early life

Chowdhury was born on 2 April 1956 to Niranjan and Saroja Bala Chowdhury at Berhampore in Murshidabad district, West Bengal. He studied at I.C. Institute in Berhampore.[3]

Political career

Chowdhury joined the Indian National Congress party during the premiership of Rajiv Gandhi. In 1991, he contested the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election from Nabagram constituency. During the polling, he was chased by 300 supporters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and held hostage by its candidate. Chowdhury lost by a margin of 1,401 votes. In 1996, he was elected from the same constituency.[4] Chowdhury was polled 76,852 votes and won by a margin of approximately 20,329 votes.[5]

Chowdhury contested the 1999 Indian general election from Berhampore constituency. He won by a margin of 95,391 votes[4] and defeated his nearest rival, the sitting MP Pramothes Mukherjee of Revolutionary Socialist Party.[6] Following his success, he was made the Congress president for the Murshidabad district.[4] Between 1999 and 2000, he served as a member of Committee on Information Technology, Railway Convention Committee and Committee to Review the Rate of Dividend Payable by the Railway Undertaking to the General Revenues. Between 2000 and 2004, he served as a member of Consultative Committee of the Ministry of External Affairs.[3] In 2003, under Chowdhury's leadership, the Congress party won 23 out of 33 zilla parishad seats, 13 out of 26 panchayat samitis and 104 out of 254 village councils in Murshidabad.[4]

On 28 October 2012 he was inducted in the Union Ministry under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as Minister of State for Railways.[7]

Chowdhury taking charge as the Minister of State for Railways, in New Delhi on 29 October 2012.

After taking charge as Minister of State for Railways, he has reviewed the statutes of safety, punctuality and passenger amenities with Board Members and inspected Sealdah, Howrah, Beharampur etc. railway stations to check adequacy of passenger amenity facilities.

He became the president of West Bengal Pradesh Congress on 10 February 2014.[8]

In June 2019, he was selected as Congress leader in Lok Sabha. According to a report in NDTV, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was given the job after the party failed to convince Rahul Gandhi.[9] On 26 July 2019, Chowdhury was appointed as the chairman of Seventeenth Lok Sabha Committee on Public Accounts. The Public Accounts Committee is now constituted every year under Rule 308 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.[10]

After passing away of Somen Mitra, the then president of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, on 9 September 2020, Chowdhury was appointed as the president of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee.[11]

Personal life

Chowdhury married Arpita Chowdhury (nee Majumdar) on 15 September 1987.[3] Their only child, a daughter, Shreyashi died in October 2006 after falling off from the terrace of their apartment at the age of 18. The police suspected that it was a case of suicide.[12][13] On 9 January 2019, Arpita died.[14] In the 2019 Indian general election affidavit, Adhir Chowdhury declared that he was married to Atasi Chattopadhyaya Chowdhury. Media reported that Adhir had adopted her daughter.[15]

References

  1. "After Rahul Gandhi refuses, Congress names Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as its leader in Lok Sabha: Reports". Times Now. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  2. Adhir Chowdhury -Political Profile Archived 6 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine Adhir Chowdhury -Political Profile
  3. "Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury". Lok Sabha. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  4. "Congress finds a champion in former Naxalite Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to take on Left Front". India Today. 9 June 2003. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  5. "Nabagram". Elections in India. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  6. "Berhampore". Elections. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  7. "UPA ministry gets 17 new faces, core team stays". News 18. 28 October 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  8. "In tough message, Cong makes Adhir Chowdhury PCC chief - Times of India". Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  9. Singh, Mausami (18 June 2019). "West Bengal's Adhir Ranjan is Congress leader in Lok Sabha". India Today. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  10. "दो कमेटियों का गठनः कांग्रेसी चौधरी एक के तो दूसरे की लेखी अध्यक्ष". Jansatta (in Hindi). 26 July 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  11. "Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Appointed West Bengal Congress Chief". ndtv.com. Press Trust of India. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  12. "Congress MP's daughter loses battle for life". Zee News. 24 October 2006. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  13. "MP's daughter in suicide bid". The Telegraph. 18 October 2006. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  14. "প্রয়াত বহরমপুরের 'দিদিভাই' অধীর চৌধুরীর স্ত্রী অর্পিতা" [Adhir Chowdhury's wife and Berhampore's 'Didibhai' dies] (in Bengali). Anandabazar Patrika. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  15. "Adhir Chowdhury Reveals His Second Wife's Name". Kolkata 24x7. 13 April 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
Lok Sabha
Preceded by
Promothes Mukherjee
Member of Parliament
for Berhampore

1999 – Present
Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
Pradip Bhattacharya
President of
West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee

10 February 2014 – 21 September 2018
Succeeded by
Somen Mitra
Preceded by
Mallikarjun Kharge
Leader of the Indian National Congress
in the Lok Sabha

2019 – Present
Incumbent
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