Benoy Krishna Konar

Benoy Krishna Konar (Bengali: বিনয় কোঙার; 24 April 1930 – 14 September 2014) was an Indian communist politician and a firebrand peasant leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was the President of the All India Kisan Sabha and a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for 8 years.

Benoy Kishna Konar
President of the All India Kisan Sabha
In office 20 November 1995 – 8 March 1999
Preceded by	N. Sankaraiah
Succeeded by	S. Ramachandran Pillai
Member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly
In office 1977–1982
Preceded by	Naba Kumar Chatterjee
Succeeded by	Maharani Konar
Constituency	Memari
In office 1969–1972
Preceded by	P.Bishayee
Succeeded by	Naba Kumar Chatterjee
Constituency	Memari
Personal details
Born	(1930-04-24)24 April 1930 Memari, Bardhaman, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died	14 September 2014(2014-09-14) (aged 84) Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Political party	Communist Party of India (Marxist) (1964–2014) Communist Party of India (1948–1964)
Spouse	Maharani Konar
Relatives	Hare Krishna Konar (brother)

Early life

Benoy Krishna Konar was born in 1930 his father is Sharatchandra Konar and his mother name is Satyabala Devi in an affluent family of farmers in Memari in Purba Bardhaman district. His official Address is Kamargoria. He is the younger brother of Famous Politician Comrade Hare Krishna Konar. So, from younger age he gets attracted to Communist Party.^[1]

Political career

Like his elder brother Harekrishna Konar, he became fully involved in organising the peasant movement in Burdwan. He led various struggles of the agricultural workers and poor peasants. Benoy Konar became an important leader of the Kisan movement of West Bengal and served as the general secretary and president of the state Kisan Sabha. Later he became the national president of the All India Kisan Sabha, a post in which he served for a number of years. Benoy Konar was a staunch Marxist–Leninist. He was a member of the West Bengal state committee of the CPI(M) from 1982 and became a member of the state secretariat in 1991. He was elected to the Central Committee of the Party in 1995 and became chairman of the Central Control Commission in the 20th Congress of the Party. He was a member of the state legislative assembly from Memari constituency thrice. Comrade Benoy Konar had to face police repression during his political activities. He was jailed under a number of false cases and spent six years and nine months in jail. He had also worked underground during the peasants struggles in Burdwan. Benoy Konar served the Communist Party with great distinction. He was a powerful speaker. He was known for his firm ideological commitment to Marxism and led an exemplary life marked by simplicity.^[1] He was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from the Memari (Vidhan Sabha constituency) in 1969, 1971 and 1977.^[1] His wife, Maharani Konar, was elected from the same constituency in 1982, 1987 and 1991.^[1] He was known for making caustic remarks against the Trinamool Congress and its chief Mamata Banerjee which had drawn flak even from allies during Singur and Nandigram agitations. Konar had also taken potshots against the then West Bengal Governor, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, after the Nadigram killing in 2007.^[2][3]

Controversies

Konar was alleged to be linked to the Sainbari murder case^[4] where 3 brothers of the Sain family were brutally murdered, their home set on fire, an infant thrown into the fire and the family members thoroughly traumatized. The other names linked to this murder were those of Anil Basu, Nirupam Sen and Amal Halder, all senior CPI(M) leaders. The Sain family has not received justice to date.

Death

Konar died at Kolkata on 14 September 2014 after a prolonged illness.^[1][5]