Priyaranjan Dasmunsi was a member of 14th Lok Sabha of India. He was a member of the Indian National Congress party and had represented the Raiganj constituency of West Bengal. He was thecabinet minister in Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting during the first term of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Priyaranjan DasMunshi was also the President of Gan Sanskriti Sangsad, a mass cultural organization founded by Late Dr. Nihar Ranjan Roy.
Early Life of Priyaranjan Dasmunsi
Cabinet Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi was born on 13th November 1945 to father Late Shri Jyotirindranath Dasmunsi and mother Late Renukana Das Munsi at Chirirbander, District Dinajpur East, Bangladesh. He did his schooling from Raiganj College, District Uttar Dinajpur (West Bengal) and University of Calcutta (West Bengal) and obtained his higher education, M.A., LL.B, subsequently.
His keen interest in sports led him to the positions like Chairman, Legal Committee, Asian Football Confederation (AFC); President, All India Football Federation since 1989; Vice-President, Indian Olympic Association and also became the member of (i) F.I.F.A. Standing Committee; (ii) Asian Football Confederation Technical Committee; (iii) Mohan Bagan; (iv) East Bengal; (v) Mohammadan Sporting Club, Kolkata; and (vi) Member, Court of Arbitration, FIFA. He was also the member in the Technical Study Group of FIFA in 1995 World Women Cup at Sweden. In 1999 he was the Match Commissioner of FIFA in World Women Cup. He also served special duties at World Cup (Football), France in1998 and was the First Indian to get this Privilege. In World Cup (Football), Korea-Japan, 2002 he was the Special Duty Officer and Chief`de Mission, Indian Olympics Team in 2004 at Athens, Greece. He started his career by engaging in legal profession at Kolkata High Court (1976-77 to 1984).
Political Career of Priyaranjan Dasmunshi
Priyaranjan Dasmunshi had also been the member of several Parliamentary delegations during 1971-77 and 1984-89. He also served as a member of Indian Delegation for World Peace in 1972, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He had been the Leader of Indian Youth Delegation at the 10th World Youth Festival, Berlin in1973 and in 1974, was the Indian Delegate to the 17th Congress of Komsomol, Moscow. In 1975, he was the Indian Delegate to Euro-Afro-Arab Youth Conference, Baghdad and also led as Head of Indian Football Delegation to China, 1982. He attended FIFA Congresses at Spain (1982), Italy (Rome, 1990) Switzerland (Zurich, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996), U.S.A, (Chicago, 1994, Los Angeles, 1999), and France (Paris, 1998); Argulia, 2002, Qatar, 2003 and also adverted AFC Congresses at Indonesia (Bali, 1990), Hong Kong, 1992, Malaysia (Kualalampur, 1994, 1996, 1998) and Singapore, 1995.
He became a minister for the first time in 1985, when he was sworn in as Union Minister of State, Commerce. Throughout his political career he held several positions in the political arena and these in a precise form are: Member, All India Congress Committee (A.I.C.C.) ( 1970 onwards) , President, Youth Congress, West Bengal ( 1970-71) , Elected to 5th Lok Sabha ( 1971) , General Secretary, Pradesh Congress Committee (P.C.C.), West Bengal ( 1971-72) , Elected President, Indian Youth Congress( 1971-75) , Member, Public Accounts Committee( 1971-77) , Special Invitee, Congress Working Committee, Elected Member, Central Election Committee, I.N.C. ( 1977) , Elected Member, Congress Working Committee( 1977-78) , Member, C.P.B., AICC (S) ( 1979) , President, P.C.C. (S), West Bengal ( 1980) , Re-elected to 8th Lok Sabha (2nd term) ( 1984) , President, P.C.C., West Bengal ( 1985-88) , Union Minister of State, Commerce( 1985-89) , Vice-President, P.C.C., West Bengal( 1989-91) , Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (3rd term)( 1996) , Member, Committee on Public Undertakings, Member, CPP Executive Committee( 1998) , Working President, PCC, West Bengal, Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (4th term) ( 1999) , Chief Whip, Congress Parliamentary Party, Lok Sabha , Member, Committee on Railways( 1999-2004) , Member, Committee on Government Assurances, Member, Business Advisory Committee, Member, Committee on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme, Member, Committee on Public Accounts, Re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha (5th term)( 2004) , Union Cabinet Minister, Water Resources( 23 May 2004 - 2017).
Personal Life of Priyaranjan Dasmunshi
Priyaranjan Dasmunshi was married in the year of 1994 to Mrs. Deepa Dasmunsi, a social worker from Kolkata. They have a young son named Priyadeep Dasmunshi.
Death of Priyaranjan Dasmunshi
He suffered a massive stroke and paralysis on October 12, 2008, leaving him unable to speak or recognise anyone. He was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi and was afterwards shifted to Apollo Hospital. From the time when Dasmunsi was hospitalized, his wife Deepa has taken over his political responsibility and she was elected from Raiganj (Lok Sabha constituency) in 2009. On 10th October 2011, the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi recommended his family to take him home and care for him there only. He died on 20th November 2017 at New Delhi, India.