• Born in Calcutta, April 15, 1928

     

  • No formal education. Studied at home and in jail.

     

  • Can read and write Urdu, English, Hindi, can read Bengali

     

  • Joined the Party in April 1946

     

  • Sent by the Party to work in East Partition in 1951, was arrested and jailed for 26 months without trial. Repatriated to Calcutta in 1953.

     

  • Elected to Calcutta District Committee in 1955

     

  • Elected to West Bengal State Committee in 1971

     

  • Elected to Central Committee in 1985

     

  • Elected to Polit Bureau in 2008

     

  • Elected as General Secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions in 2007

     

  • Elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1969, 1971, 1977, 1996 and 2001

     

  • Served as Minister for Transport, Minority Affairs and Minister for Labour in the West Bengal Left Front Government.

     

  • Elected Member of the Rajya Sabha in 1988 and 2007

     

  • Author of four books in Urdu and Bengali; complied a Bengali-Urdu dictionary

     

  • Worked in many trade unions