WHO IS SOVANDEB CHATTOPADHYAY?

During the first stint of the TMC government in West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee's leadership from 2011 to 2016, Chattopadhyay was the Government Chief Whip in the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha. In the second term in 2016, he took charge of the Ministry of Power & Non-Conventional Energy of West Bengal.

 

The 77-year-old politician was a  boxer in his younger days and is a veteran trade union leader, with degrees in science and law. He is also the president of the Kolkata Auto Rickshaw Operators’ Union.

 

In 1991 and 1996, Chattopadhyay won the Baruipur seat as a Congress candidate and Rasbehari constituency as a TMC candidate in 2001 and 2006. In 2011, he won by nearly 50,000 votes and was re-elected in 2016, keeping the same power ministry of the state.

 

In the upcoming West Bengal Legislative Assembly, the veteran minister will be contesting from the Bhawanipore constituency, the erstwhile seat of the TMC supremo Banerjee.