https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Deo_Prakash_RaiDeo Prakash Rai - Revision history2026-07-31T12:20:18ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Deo_Prakash_Rai&diff=373827&oldid=prevBot at 11:11, 2 March 20222022-03-02T11:11:48Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian politician}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2021}}<br />
'''Deo Prakash Rai''' (December 1926 – 1981) was an Indian politician. A former [[Gurkha|Gorkha Brigade]] soldier, he was the general secretary of the [[Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League|All India Gorkha League]] and was made a minister in the [[West Bengal]] state government in 1967, 1969 and 1971.<br />
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==Youth==<br />
Rai was born at Tukvar Tea Estate in [[Darjeeling]] in December 1926.<ref name="Assembly1974"/> He was the son of K.S. Sotang.<ref name="Assembly1974"/> He went to school at the Arung School of Education, obtaining a Higher English Certificate of Education.<ref name="Assembly1974">{{cite book|author=West Bengal (India). Legislature. Legislative Assembly|title=Who's who 1972: General Election, March 1972|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I78yAAAAMAAJ|year=1974|publisher=West Bengal Legislative Assembly Secretariat|page=67}}</ref><br />
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==Soldier==<br />
Rai served in the Gorkha Brigade for three years during the [[Second World War]].<ref name="Assembly1974"/><ref name=a>{{cite book|title=India Who's who|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6TU9AAAAYAAJ|year=2000|publisher=INFA Publications|page=156}}</ref> He reached the rank of colour sergeant.<ref name=b>{{cite book|title=The Call of Nepal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JO9HAAAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Educational Enterprises|page=52}}</ref> In 1950, he was arrested in [[Federation of Malaya|Malaya]] and deported, having been denounced as a "communist agent" by [[J. P. Cross|John Cross]], chief instructor of the new Army School of Education (Gurkhas).<ref name=b/><ref name="Gould1999">{{cite book|author=Tony Gould|title=Imperial warriors: Britain and the Gurkhas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6bYhAQAAIAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Granta Books|isbn=978-1-86207-284-8|page=335}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Times of India Directory and Year Book Including Who's who|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bQMfAQAAMAAJ|year=1968|publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Company|page=932}}</ref><br />
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==In politics and trade unionism==<br />
Rai was general secretary of the All India Gorkha League.<ref name="Samanta2000"/> In 1946, the [[Communist Party of India]] (CPI) proposed the notion of creating a "Gorkhasthan", merging [[Nepal]], south [[Sikkim]] and the Darjeeling hills.<ref name="Samanta2000">{{cite book|author=Amiya K. Samanta|title=Gorkhaland Movement: A Study in Ethnic Separatism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4GqdfG0EU8C&pg=PA99|year=2000|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-7648-166-3|pages=90, 99}}</ref> The CPI tried to convince the Gorkha League to support the Gorkhasthan proposal, but Rai categorically opposed it.<ref name="Samanta2000"/> As a [[trade union]]ist, he was the founder of Darjeeling Chiya Kaman Shramik Sangha.<ref name="Assembly1974"/> He was patron of the Darjeeling Cultural Institute.<ref name="Assembly1974"/> As an author, he wrote many poems and short stories in the [[Nepali language]].<ref name="Assembly1974"/><br />
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==Legislator==<br />
Rai represented the [[Darjeeling (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Darjeeling constituency]] in the [[West Bengal Legislative Assembly]] from 1957 until his death.<ref name="Committee"/><br />
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==Minister==<br />
Rai was named Minister for Scheduled Castes and Tribes Welfare in the 1967 and 1969 [[United Front (1967)|United Front]] governments of West Bengal.<ref name=a/><ref name="Committee">{{cite book|author=Communist Party of India (Marxist). West Bengal State Committee|title=Election results of West Bengal: statistics & analysis, 1952–1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CNeNAAAAMAAJ|publisher=The Committee|pages=379–380, 460}}</ref><ref name="Samaddar2005">{{cite book|author=Ranabir Samaddar|title=The Politics of Autonomy: Indian Experiences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=45GHAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA182|date=13 December 2005|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-81-321-0364-6|page=182}}</ref> He was again named as Minister in the 1971 state government, now in charge of Scheduled Castes Tribal Welfare and Tourism.<ref name=a/><ref name="SamāddāraReifeld2001">{{cite book|author1=Raṇabīra Samāddāra|author2=Helmut Reifeld|author3=Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung|title=Peace as process: reconciliation and conflict resolution in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=31uPAAAAMAAJ|date=1 June 2001|publisher=Manohar Publishers & Distributors|isbn=978-81-7304-397-0|page=270}}</ref><br />
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For a quarter of a century, Rai was the dominant politician in the Darjeeling hills.<ref name="Bagchi2012">{{cite book|author=Romit Bagchi|title=Gorkhaland: Crisis of Statehood|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xbGICwAAQBAJ&pg=PT108|date=13 June 2012|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-81-321-1680-6|page=108}}</ref> He received criticism from within his own community, which accused him of having entered into a secret pact with the state government in [[Calcutta]].<ref name="Bagchi2012"/> While Raj was a minister in three successive state cabinets, no progress on administrative autonomy for the Darjeeling hills was made.<ref name="SamāddāraReifeld2001"/><br />
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==1977 election==<br />
At the time of the 1977 elections, Rai was weakened by illness.<ref name="Samanta2000"/><br />
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Rai died in 1981.<ref name="Bagchi2012"/> After his death, his party was weakened and more militant factions such as Pranta Parishad and the [[Gorkha National Liberation Front]] came to dominate the political field in the hills.<ref name="Choudhury2008">{{cite book|author=Maitreyee Choudhury|title=Himalayan Studies in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dh4lY8_krFUC&pg=PA94|year=2008|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-8324-196-0|page=94}}</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist|30em}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Deoprakash}}<br />
[[Category:1926 births]]<br />
[[Category:1981 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Gurkhas]]<br />
[[Category:Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League politicians]]<br />
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1957–1962]]<br />
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1962–1967]]<br />
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1967–1969]]<br />
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1969–1971]]<br />
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1971–1972]]<br />
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1972–1977]]<br />
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1977–1982]]<br />
[[Category:State cabinet ministers of West Bengal]]<br />
[[Category:Trade unionists from West Bengal]]<br />
[[Category:People from Darjeeling]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Gorkhas]]<br />
[[Category:British Indian Army soldiers]]<br />
[[Category:Rai people]]</div>Bot