Benoy Choudhury

Benoy Choudhury was a renowned Indian freedom fighter, revolutionary and a politician. He belonged to the CPI (M) party and played a significant role in the land reforms of the state of West Bengal, India. Choudhury successfully completed his matriculation from the Bardhaman Municipal School and passed I.S.C. from Serampore College. Later in the year 1928, he joined the revolutionary group Jugantar. Benoy Choudhury was imprisoned by the British Indian Police for his participation in revolutionary activities before he could appear for his B.A. examination.

Revolutionary Activities of Benoy Choudhury
Benoy Choudhury also became a part of the revolutionary organisation named Anushilan Samiti. He was jailed in the year 1930 for his associations with Anushilan Samiti. Choudhury was again arrested and imprisoned in 1938 for his participation in the Birbhum conspiracy case. Later in the same year, he became a part of the Communist Party.

Political Career of Benoy Choudhury
In 1951, Choudhury filed his nomination for election from Burdwan constituency while he was still in prison. He represented undivided CPI and secured 11,439 votes, where as the former Maharaja of Burdwan, Uday Chand Mahtab, represented Congress and secured 9,477 votes. Benoy Choudhury won the Burdwan seat in the year 1957 and later the Burdwan South seat in the years 1969 and 1971. He also won from the Bardhaman North seat in 1987 and 1991. Choudhury was appointed as the minister of several departments.

Land Reforms of Benoy Choudhury
Benoy Choudhury played a major role in land reforms in the state of West Bengal. In the 1st phase of the reforms in 1967-1970, around a million acres of land was recovered through existing legal ways by Hare Krishna Konar. In the 2nd phase in 1978-1982, Choudhury achieved 2 main tasks. Under the Operation Barga, almost 1.7 million sharecroppers were officially recorded and assured them of permanent land holding, as well as a proper share of the crop. Moreover, the distribution of almost a million acres of land was previously vested amongst 2.4 million landless farm labour. Therefore around 4 million people were directly benefited, which laid the foundation for triumph of the Left Front in following years.

Later Life of Benoy Choudhury
After he retired from active politics, Benoy Choudhury lived in Bidhannagar. Choudhury died on 6th May 2000 in Kolkata.