West Bengal's first finance minister of the Left Front regime, Dr Ashok Mitra passed away on Tuesday at a private hospital at about 9:15 am. Mitra was 90 and had been ill since April.
Mitra, a noted economist, became the finance minister of West Bengal in 1977 when the Left Front led by Jyoti Basu came to power.
He had been the state finance minister for 10 years when he resigned from his post in 1987 following a difference in opinion between him and the then chief minister Jyoti Basu.
Dr Asim Dasgupta, who was a student of Mitra, replaced him. Calling it an immense loss for Leftist politics along with his personal loss, Dasgupta recalled his time spent with Mitra and said that besides his immense knowledge of Economics he was also known for his knowledge of Centre-state relationship.
A graduate from Dhaka University and a post-graduate from Benaras Hindu University, Mitra did his doctorate from the University of Rotterdam in Netherlands. He had also served as the Chief Economic Advisor of the Central government as well as being a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Known for his analyses and political farsightedness, Mitra had criticised the CPI(M) for its land acquisition policies during the Singur-Nandigram movement and had predicted doom of the Left Front government as it had angered one of its most loyal vote groups — the farmers. After the police firing at Nandigram in East Midnapore on March 14, 2007, he had come down heavily on the West Bengal state government.
Mitra had penned several books before and after taking retirement from politics. He was conferred with the Sahitya Akademy Award.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offered her condolences on twitter.
'Saddened at the passing away of noted economist, former finance minister of Bengal and former Rajya Sabha MP Dr Ashok Mitra. He had a long career with the World Bank, IIM Calcutta and as Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India. Condolences to his family & well wishers," she tweeted.
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