Kolkata: Basudeb Acharia, veteran CPI(M) leader and nine-time Lok Sabha member from West Bengal’s Bankura constituency, died at the age of 81 on Monday.
He died at a private hospital at Hyderabad where he was undergoing treatment for quite some time.
Acharia was first elected from Bankura in 1980. Till 2014, he got elected from that constituency for nine consecutive times.
However, he was defeated by the Trinamool Congress candidate and actress-turned-politician Moon Moon Sen in 2014 Lok Sabha polls from that constituency, which was quite unexpected for the political critics of the state.
His daughter is currently abroad and is expected to reach Hyderabad by tomorrow, following which his final rituals will be conducted, said the party insiders.
Born on July 11, 1942 at Purulia district in West Bengal, Acharia had been associated with leftist politics since his student days.
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.
–IANS