A lawyer by profession, a six-time MP and a former Union minister, Ajit Panja, who passed away on Friday, had quit the Congress party in 1977
KOLKATA: A lawyer by profession, a six-time MP and a former Union minister, Ajit Panja, who passed away on Friday, had quit the Congress party in 1977 and joined the Trinamool Congress under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee.
Panja, who had started his political career in Congress and was elected to the West Bengal Assembly for the first time in 1971, had held a number of portfolios in the Rajiv Gandhi and the P V Narasimha Rao governments, including the key Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
He had differences with the Congress leadership in 1997 leading to his resignation from the party.
Panja became a founder member of Trinamool Congress led Mamata Banerjee and won the Lok Sabha elections in 1998 on a ticket of the new party and served as its Chief Whip in Parliament.
Re-elected to the Lok Sabha for the sixth consecutive time in 1999, Panja was Minister of State for External Affairs in the NDA Government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
A man of varied talents, Panja was a keen stage actor and had won great appreciation for his portrayal of Ramakrishna Paramhans in the Bengali play 'Noti Binodini'. He was also interested in Rabindra Sangeet and writing poems and dramas.
Born in 1936, he did graduation from Scottish Church College in Kolkata and Bar-at-Law from Lincoln's Inn, London.
Panja was elected to the West Bengal Assembly in 1971 and was Minister for Health and Family Planning in the Siddhartha Shankar Ray Government from 1972 to 1977.
He rose to become the WBPCC president in 1980 and in the 1984 Lok Sabha polls, he was elected from the Calcutta North East constituency.
In the Rajiv Gandhi Government, he held the portfolios of Minister of State for Planning in 1985 and Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies in 1986.
Panja was given independent charge of the prestigious Information and Broadcasting Ministry from 1986 to 1988. He had also served as the Minister of State for Finance.
Panja again held the independent charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in the Narasimha Rao government from 1991 to 1993. He was also Minister of State for Coal in 1993.
He tried his hand in law and in 1971, he became a junior standing counsel. The same year he turned towards politics and was elected an MLA. He became a member of the AICC in 1973 and was a three-time member of the West Bengal Assembly.
Widely travelled, Panja had visited several countries to attend film festivals including in Mauritius, Russia and Berlin. He was also part of the Prime Minister's delegation to Australia, New Zealand and Thailand in 1986.
Married in 1960, he had a son and a daughter.
Panja has a number of books in Bengali to his credit which included 'Sansad Bichitra', 'Ganatantra Hatya' and 'Dunkel Agreement'. He also wrote books in English including on the achievements of the Narasimha Rao Government and on health problems in West Bengal.
A true nature lover, Panja was passionate about gardening and simply adored angling and birdwatching. He also
member of the football clubs 'Mohan Bagan' and 'East Bengal'.
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