Asim Dasgupta

2021-10-29T05:10:49Z

115.96.119.135:

{{Short description|Indian economist and politician|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Asim Dasgupta
|image = Asim_Dasgupta.jpg
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1945|10|29|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
|death_date =
|death_place =
|office = Minister for Finance & Excise, [[Government of West Bengal]]
|term_start = 5 June 1987
|term_end = 13 May 2011
|predecessor = [[Ashok Mitra]]
|successor = [[Amit Mitra]]
|constituency = [[Khardaha (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Khardaha]]
|office1 = [[Member of Legislative Assembly (India)|MLA]]
|term_start1 = 1987
|term_end1 = 2011
|predecessor1 = Kamal Sarkar
|successor1 = [[Amit Mitra]]
|constituency1 = [[Khardaha (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Khardaha]]
|nationality = [[India]]n
|party = [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]
|residence =
|alma_mater = [[University of Calcutta]] (BA, MA)<br>[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (PhD)
|profession = [[Politician]]<br>[[Economist]]
}}

'''Dr. Asim Kumar Dasgupta''' (born 30 October 1945) is an Indian economist and politician. He served as minister of finance and excise in the [[List of Members of Left Front Ministry in West Bengal in 2006|Left Front ministry]] in the [[India]]n [[States and union territories of India|state]] of [[West Bengal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wbcmo.gov.in/ministers.aspx|title=List of All Ministers|publisher=Government of West Bengal|accessdate=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223173653/http://www.wbcmo.gov.in/ministers.aspx|archive-date=23 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was the [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|MLA]] of [[Khardaha (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Khardaha]] constituency for twenty-four years until 13 May 2011, when he was defeated by [[Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry|FICCI]] secretary general [[Amit Mitra]] by a landslide 26,154 votes<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sify.com/news/political-greenhorns-emerge-giant-killers-in-bengal-news-national-lfpjkfdajgg.html|title=Political greenhorns emerge giant killers in Bengal|agency=Sify News|date=15 May 2011|accessdate=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819235841/https://www.sify.com/news/political-greenhorns-emerge-giant-killers-in-bengal-news-national-lfpjkfdajgg.html|archive-date=19 August 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> in the [[2011 elections in India|2011 Assembly Election of West Bengal]]. He was one of the 26 ministers who lost his seat this historic defeat of Communist Party of India (Marxist) led [[Left Front (West Bengal)|Left Front]] government.

==Education and early life==
He started his school life in [[Malda Zilla School]] and Then he earned his Undergraduate and Postgraduate Degrees in Economics from the [[University of Calcutta]]. Thereafter he secured a doctorate (PhD) in economics from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. He started his career as a college lecturer and retired as a professor of economics at the [[University of Calcutta]], before moving on to a career in politics.<ref name=SALink>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/assembly-elections-2011/west-bengal/Buddhadeb-has-no-car-house-land-has-only-Rs-5000/articleshow/7875733.cms|title=Buddhadeb Has No Car, House, Land And Only Rs 5,000|work=[[Times of India]]|agency=PTI|date=5 April 2011|accessdate=19 August 2019}}</ref>

==Role as a minister==
After taking over the charge as a minister of finance and excise from [[Ashok Mitra]] in 1987, he faced scathing criticism for his so-called 0-deficit budget. The chief minister, [[Jyoti Basu]], used to recommend him to the Chambers of Commerce as the "my US-trained finance minister who will listen to your new ideas" in the first days of liberalization in the 1990s.<ref name=bs>{{cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/newsmaker-asim-dasgupta-105030201040_1.html|title=Newsmaker: Asim Dasgupta|author=Prodeep Gooptu|work=[[Business Standard]]|date=14 June 2013|accessdate=19 August 2019}}</ref>

As the chairman of the empowered committee on value-added tax (VAT), he masterminded the most ambitious tax reform in Indian history since the introduction of the first industry and trading taxes by the British in the early 20th century, by introducing the VAT.
He was made the chairman of GST council by the NDA Govt in 2000. Dasgupta admitted in an interview that 80% of the plan had been formulated under his tenure in the GST Council.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/gst-history-arun-jaitley-tax-reform-july-1-985482-2017-06-29|title=GST: A 17-year-old dream, 17 phases towards creating history|work=[[India Today]]|date=29 June 2017|accessdate=19 August 2019}}</ref> He resigned from the chairmanship in 2011. GST was finally implemented on 1 July 2017. He is referred to as the architect of India's GST.<ref name=bs/>

==Political career==
He was elected to the [[West Bengal Legislative Assembly]] from [[Khardaha (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Khardah]] in 1987, 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eci.nic.in/archive/ElectionAnalysis/AE/S25/Partycomp134.htm|title=134 - Khardah Assembly Constituency|work=Partywise Comparison Since 1977|publisher=Election Commission of India|accessdate=15 October 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928121909/http://eci.nic.in/archive/ElectionAnalysis/AE/S25/Partycomp134.htm|archivedate=28 September 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In 2011 he lost to [[Amit Mitra]] at Khardah.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eciresults.nic.in/ConstituencywiseS25109.htm|title=Khardaha|work=Assembly Elections May 2011 Results|publisher=Election Commission of India|accessdate=13 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516050536/http://eciresults.nic.in/ConstituencywiseS25109.htm|archive-date=16 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the [[2014 Indian general election|General elections of 2014]], he contested from [[Dum Dum (Lok Sabha constituency)|Dum Dum]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://myneta.info/ls2014/candidate.php?candidate_id=9358|title=Loksabha 2014|publisher=My Neta|accessdate=19 August 2019}}</ref> West Bengal but lost to Saugata Roy of TMC.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160815053029/http://dev.cpim.org/elections-2014/candidate/dr-asim-dasgupta Dr. Asim Dasgupta] – [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)|CPI(M)]]

{{West Bengal Legislative Assembly2}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dasgupta, Asim}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from English Bazar]]
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1987–1991]]
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1991–1996]]
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1996–2001]]
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 2001–2006]]
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 2006–2011]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from West Bengal]]
[[Category:State cabinet ministers of West Bengal]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta faculty]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidates in the 2014 Indian general election]]

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Asim Dasgupta