CM Bengal Siddhartha Shankar Ray Died At 90

Siddhartha Shankar Ray, the leader of Bengal, which played a significant role in political activity in the country during the turbulent times of emergency, the Naxalite movement and the Khalistan movement in Punjab, died today at his residence in Beltolla in South Kolkata after a long illness. He was 90.
Ray, who was Minister of Education of the Union from 1967 to 1972, also served as Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1972 to 1977, the governor of Punjab between 1986 and 1989 and Ambassador of India to the U.S. from 1992 to 1996. Ray, who had been suffering from various kidney ailments, had been on dialysis for some time. The end came today at 6.50 pm. The state government has declared holiday on Monday as a mark of respect for the deceased leader.
Born in 1920 in Sudhir Kumar Ray, a distinguished lawyer of Calcutta High Court, and Aparna Devi, the eldest daughter of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, Congress leader, Ray studied at Presidency College in Calcutta and later studied law in England. Ray faces accusations that he had discussed the imposition of emergency in the country. He also courted controversy by the excesses during the imposition of emergency in the state of arbitrariness and the police in handling the Naxalite movement in the state.