Swapan Dasgupta

2021-07-05T17:39:39Z

2409:4040:E0D:847D:0:0:BD49:DE12: Added content

{{Short description|Indian scholar, journalist and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Swapan Dasgupta
| image = File:Swapan Dasgupta in May 2016 (cropped).jpg
| caption =
| office1 = [[Member of Parliament]], [[Rajya Sabha]]
| term_start1 = 1 June 2021
| predecessor1 = ''Himself''
| constituency1 = Nominated ([[Journalism]])
| constituency2 = Nominated ([[Journalism]])
| term_start2 = 25 April 2016
| term_end2 = 16 March 2021
| successor2 = ''Himself''
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1955|10|03}}
| birth_place = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| alma_mater = [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi]] ([[B.A.|BA]])<br/>[[SOAS University of London]] ([[M.A.|MA]], [[PhD]])<br/>[[Nuffield College, Oxford]] (Post-doctoral Fellow)
| occupation = Journalist, Writer, Political analyst
| party = [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (2021-present)
| spouse = Reshmi Ray Dasgupta
| children = 1 son
| awards = [[Padma Bhushan]] (2015)
}}

'''Swapan Dasgupta''' (born 3 October 1955) is an Indian journalist and politician.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/subramanian-swamy-navjot-singh-sidhu-swapan-dasgupta-nominated-for-rajya-sabha/|title=Subramanian Swamy, Sidhu, Suresh Gopi, Swapan Dasgupta nominated for Rajya Sabha|date=23 April 2016|website=The Indian Express|access-date=20 July 2017}}</ref> He is influential within the Indian right wing,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i8M9DwAAQBAJ|title=Our Time Has Come: How India is Making Its Place in the World|last=Ayres|first=Alyssa|date=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780190494520|pages=28|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/rhetoric-of-hindu-india/23F550BAE62DCB5D3884F9345105AA57|title=The Rhetoric of Hindu India by Manisha Basu|last=Basu|first=Manisha|date=August 2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-14987-8|pages=67–68, 139|language=en|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://qz.com/205367/the-real-reason-indian-intellectuals-are-flocking-to-modi/|title=The real reason Indian intellectuals are backing Narendra Modi|last=Joseph|first=Tony|website=Quartz|language=en|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref> writing columns for leading English dailies espousing [[Hindu nationalism]].<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/rhetoric-of-hindu-india/23F550BAE62DCB5D3884F9345105AA57|title=The Rhetoric of Hindu India by Manisha Basu|last=Basu|first=Manisha|date=August 2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-14987-8|pages=16|language=en|chapter=Introductory Matters|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref> He is a [[List of nominated members of the Rajya Sabha|nominated]] member of the [[Rajya Sabha]] the upper house of the [[Parliament of India]]. He had resigned as MP to contest the [[2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/elections/assembly-elections/west-bengal/west-bengal-elections-2021-swapan-dasgupta-resigns-as-rajya-sabha-mp-amid-row-over-candidature/articleshow/81526847.cms | title=West Bengal elections 2021: Swapan Dasgupta resigns as Rajya Sabha MP amid row over candidature | work=[[The Times of India]] | date=16 March 2021 | accessdate=16 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.timesnownews.com/india/west-bengal/article/swapan-dasgupta-faces-disqualification-as-rajya-sabha-mp-after-getting-west-bengal-poll-ticket/732965 | title=Facing disqualification as Rajya Sabha MP, nominated member Swapan Dasgupta tenders his resignation | publisher=Times Now | date=16 March 2021 | accessdate=16 March 2021}}</ref> with a [[BJP]] ticket and lost to [[All India Trinamool Congress|AITC]] candidate Ramendu Sinha. He was renominated as MP again on 1<sup>st</sup> June 2021, prompting criticism from the opposition parties.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|others=Special Correspondent|date=2021-06-01|title=Swapan Dasgupta back in Rajya Sabha; shameful, says TMC|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/swapan-dasgupta-back-in-rajya-sabha-shameful-says-tmc/article34700889.ece|access-date=2021-06-02|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Swapan Dasgupta Renominated to Rajya Sabha After Unsuccessfully Contesting WB Polls|url=https://thewire.in/government/swapan-dasgupta-renominated-to-rajya-sabha-after-unsuccessfully-contesting-wb-polls|access-date=2021-06-02|website=The Wire}}</ref>

[[File:The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Padma Bhushan Award to Dr. Swapan Dasgupta, at a Civil Investiture Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on March 30, 2015.jpg|thumb|200px| President [[Pranab Mukherjee]] presenting the Padma Bhushan Award to Dr. Swapan Dasgupta, at a Civil Investiture Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on March 30, 2015]]
Dasgupta was awarded [[Padma Bhushan]] (the third highest civilian award in India) in 2015, for his contribution to Literature and Education.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=114952|title=Press Information Bureau|website=pib.nic.in|access-date=20 July 2017}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
He was born into a Bengali [[Baidya]] brahmin family on 3 October 1955 in Calcutta, West Bengal. He received his early education at [[St. Paul's School, Darjeeling]], [[La Martiniere Calcutta]] and [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi]], graduating from the latter in 1975. He thereafter went on to earn an MA and PhD from the [[SOAS University of London|School of Oriental and African Studies]] at the University of London, where he received an exhibitionership to fund his studies. Subsequently, he returned to India for a brief period in 1979 to take up a management position at his family's pharmaceutical business ‘[[Calcutta Chemical Company]]’. He eventually returned to the United Kingdom as a Junior Research Fellow at [[Nuffield College, University of Oxford]], where he taught and researched on South Asian Politics.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/rhetoric-of-hindu-india/23F550BAE62DCB5D3884F9345105AA57|title=The Rhetoric of Hindu India by Manisha Basu|last=Basu|first=Manisha|date=August 2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-14987-8|pages=161|language=en|chapter=Between death and redemption|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Soni|first=Aayush|date=6 June 2014|title=Swapan Dasgupta: The Face to Ring in Modi's New India|url=http://www.ozy.com/provocateurs/swapan-dasgupta-the-face-to-ring-in-modis-new-india/31941|url-status=live|access-date=2019-08-03|website=OZY|language=en}}</ref> An excerpt from his thesis concerning the intersectionality of local politics in the [[Purba Medinipur district|Midnapur]] district of Bengal has featured in a volume about [[Subaltern Studies|subaltern studies]], edited by [[Ranajit Guha]].<ref name=":1" />

==Personal life==

He is married to Reshmi Ray Dasgupta, Lifestyle Editor at [[The Economic Times]] and has a son who is a practicing lawyer in the [[Supreme Court of India]].<ref name=":2" /> They reside in New Delhi.<ref name=":2" />

==Career==
Dasgupta has served in editorial positions over several English dailies in India including [[The Indian Express]], [[The Times of India]], [[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]], [[India Today]] et cetera.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P9-GAwAAQBAJ|title=The Prabhakaran Saga: The Rise and Fall of an Eelam Warrior|last=Murari|first=S.|date=2012-06-13|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9788132109914|pages=72|language=en}}</ref> He is a frequent guest on news channels in English-language debates on Indian politics and international affairs.<ref name=":1" /> He wrote a foreword to an anthology titled ''Nirad C. Chaudhuri: The First Hundred Years: A Celebration'', wherein he asserted [[Nirad C. Chaudhuri|Chaudhuri]] of having pro-BJP stances.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.questia.com/read/119823759/south-asian-writers-in-twentieth-century-britain|title=South Asian Writers in Twentieth-Century Britain|last=Ranasinha|first=Ruvani|date=2007-02-22|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199207770|location=New York|pages=103|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207770.001.0001}}</ref>

In February 2015, Swapan Dasgupta was appointed on the Board of Directors of Larsen and Toubro as a nominee of the [[Unit Trust of India]].<ref name="Teh1">{{cite news|title=Business Standard|newspaper=Business Standard India|date=9 February 2015|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/columnist-dasgupta-joins-l-t-board-115020901148_1.html|access-date=9 June 2015}}</ref> He stepped down from Directorship of Larsen and Toubro upon being appointed to the Rajya Sabha.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/interview/swapan-dasgupta-is-not-untouchable-for-me/20150710.htm|title=Swapan Dasgupta is not untouchable for me|website=Rediff|language=en|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newslaundry.com/|title=Hartosh Bal Versus Swapan Dasgupta. And Others Caught in the Crossfire.|last=Saikia|first=Arunabh|date=10 July 2015|website=Newslaundry|language=en-UK|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref>

In 2019, he published ''[[Awakening Bharat Mata|Awakening Bharat Mata: The Political Beliefs of the Indian Right]].''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theweek.in/review/books/2019/06/10/Understanding-the-Indian-right.html|title=Understanding the Indian right|last=Pushkarna|first=Vijaya|date=10 June 2019|website=The Week|language=en|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/interview/no-fear-of-india-turning-authoritarian/20190605.htm|title=No fear of India turning authoritarian|website=Rediff|language=en|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/the-roots-of-hindu-nationalism-119070200064_1.html|title=The roots of Hindu nationalism|last=Bhattacharya|first=A. K.|date=2019-07-02|work=Business Standard India|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/books-our-rashtra-mata-in-heaven/301957|title=Our Rashtra Mata in Heaven|website=OutlookIndia|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref>

==Politics==
Despite being initially attracted to [[Trotskyism]], Dasgupta became a [[Thatcherism|Thatcherite]] in his days at England. Since then, he has self-identified with [[centre-right politics]] and has been heavily active in the national political theater, as a member of [[Bharatiya Janata Party]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/09/narendra-modi-the-divisive-manipulator-who-charmed-the-world|title=Narendra Modi: the divisive manipulator who charmed the world|last=Mishra|first=Pankaj|date=2015-11-09|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-08-03|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jEUdPqYQjhoC|title=Contesting the Nation: Religion, Community, and the Politics of Democracy in India|last=Ludden|first=David|date=April 1996|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=9780812215854|language=en}}</ref> [[Mushirul Hasan]] noted him to be the effective chief-spokesperson of BJP in the English language press during the 90s.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.questia.com/read/9049802/legacy-of-a-divided-nation-india-s-muslims-since|title=Legacy of a Divided Nation: India's Muslims since Independence|last=Hasan|first=Mushirul|publisher=Westview Press|year=1997|isbn=9780429701207|location=Boulder, Colorado|pages=303|doi=10.4324/9780429039690|oclc=1110150477}}</ref> Arvind Rajagopal saw this shift to BJP to immediately arise after the implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations along with the near-simultaneous Rathyatra by Advani, which Dasgupta held to be a potential event that can bridge the internal divide among Hindus.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.questia.com/read/105171686/politics-after-television-religious-nationalism|title=Politics After Television: Hindu Nationalism and the Reshaping of the Public in India|last=Rajagopal|first=Arvind|date=2001-01-25|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521648394|location=Cambridge, England|pages=343, 194|language=en}}</ref>

In April, 2016, Dasgupta was nominated by the President of India [[Pranab Mukherjee]] to the Rajya Sabha. His term was to continue till 2022.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-official-swamy-sidhu-swapan-dasgupta-and-mary-kom-nominated-to-rajya-sabha-by-the-centre-2205080|title=Official: Swamy, Sidhu, Swapan Dasgupta and Mary Kom nominated to Rajya Sabha by PMO - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis|date=22 April 2016|website=dnaindia.com|access-date=20 July 2017}}</ref> However on 16 March 2021, he resigned as a member of the [[Rajya Sabha]], facing legal action from the ruling Trinamool Congress party, since a nominated member cannot contest on any party ticket while continuing to hold the post in the House.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-16|title=Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu's office receives Swapan Dasgupta's resignation letter|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rajya-sabha-chairman-venkaiah-naidu-s-office-receives-swapan-dasgupta-s-resignation-letter-101615878314115.html|access-date=2021-03-16|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}</ref>

Dasgupta contested the [[2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election]] from [[Tarakeswar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)| Tarakeswar]]<ref> {{Cite web|title=Babul Supriyo, Swapan Dasgupta Named In BJP's Second List Of Candidates|url=https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/current-affairs-trends/west-bengal-elections-2021-babul-supriyo-swapan-dasgupta-named-in-bjps-second-list-of-candidates-6645141.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-16|website=Moneycontrol}} </ref> but lost to his opponent from the AITC Candidate [[Ramendu Singha Roy]].

He was renominated to the [[Rajya Sabha]] by the [[President of India]] on 1 June 2021. His renomination drew criticism from the opposition parties, with [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] [[Member of Parliament (India)|MP]] [[Jairam Ramesh]] asking if this was the first time in history of the [[Rajya Sabha]] that such a thing had happened.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/swapan-dasgupta-renominated-to-rajya-sabha-7339940/|title=Swapan Dasgupta renominated to Rajya Sabha|date=2 June 2021}}</ref>

== Reception ==
[[Meera Nanda]] notes him to be one of the most prominent center-right public intellectuals in the Indian polity.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://www.questia.com/read/125291531/the-god-market-how-globalization-is-making-india|title=The God Market: How Globalization is Making India More Hindu|last=Nanda|first=Meera|publisher=Monthly Review Press|year=2011|isbn=9781583672501|location=New York|pages=ix}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Basu|first=Manisha|title=Fathers of a Still-born Past: Hindu Empire, Globality, and the Rhetoric of the Trikaal|date=2008|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]]|url=http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/7604/}}</ref> [[Tanika Sarkar]] et al. have located parallels between Swapan's writings and the thought-school of Hindu nationalist organisations like [[Vishva Hindu Parishad]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Datta|first1=Pradip|last2=Pati|first2=Biswamoy|last3=Sarkar|first3=Sumit|last4=Sarkar|first4=Tanika|last5=Sen|first5=Sambuddha|date=1990|title=Understanding Communal Violence: Nizamuddin Riots|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=25|issue=45|pages=2487–2495|jstor=4396965|issn=0012-9976}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Thakore|first=Aloke|title=Reporting ethnic violence: context, text, and practice of journalism in an Indian city|date=2004|publisher=[[University of Wisconsin–Madison]]|url=https://www.academia.edu/627467}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sarkar|first=Sumit|date=1993|title=The Fascism of the Sangh Parivar|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=28|issue=5|pages=163–167|jstor=4399339|issn=0012-9976}}</ref> Manisha Basu, writing in ''The Rhetoric of Hindu India'', deems Dasgupta similarly and further notes of his consistent attacks upon left-liberal commentators—people who have supposedly leveraged their [[social privilege]] to dominate the socio-political consciousness of the "Anglophone national bourgeoisie" for long enough—in his process of becoming one of the few self-appointed interpreters of the Indian Right.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/rhetoric-of-hindu-india/23F550BAE62DCB5D3884F9345105AA57|title=The Rhetoric of Hindu India by Manisha Basu|last=Basu|first=Manisha|date=August 2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-14987-8|pages=39|language=en|chapter=Time's victims in a second republic|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref>

Basu also notes him to be a vocal exponent of exploiting English as a tool in reaching out to the masses and substituting the appeal of prevalent ideologies of the socialist left-liberals with that of [[hindutva]];<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/rhetoric-of-hindu-india/23F550BAE62DCB5D3884F9345105AA57|title=The Rhetoric of Hindu India by Manisha Basu|last=Basu|first=Manisha|date=August 2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-14987-8|pages=xi|language=en|chapter=Preface|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref> he was one of the most fierce critics of the pro-vernacular policies followed by the communist government of [[West Bengal]].<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Kapoor|first=Richa|title=Understanding and Interpreting English as a School Discipline in Postcolonial India|date=2008|publisher=[[University of Minnesota]]}}</ref> Back in the early 2000s, Dasgupta had noted in his blog:<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/rhetoric-of-hindu-india/23F550BAE62DCB5D3884F9345105AA57|title=The Rhetoric of Hindu India by Manisha Basu|last=Basu|first=Manisha|date=August 2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-14987-8|pages=140–144|language=en|chapter=Between death and redemption|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref>- {{cquote|The Right is an endangered community in India’s English-language media. I happen to be one of the few to have retained a precarious toe-hold in the mainstream media.}}

Arvind Tajagopal notes Dasgupta to be one of the most vocal and enthusiast columnists for Hindutva, in English language press in the 80s.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.questia.com/read/105171686/politics-after-television-religious-nationalism|title=Politics After Television: Hindu Nationalism and the Reshaping of the Public in India|last=Rajagopal|first=Arvind|date=2001-01-25|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521648394|location=Cambridge, England|pages=170|language=en}}</ref>
==Bibliography==

* {{Cite book|title=[[Awakening Bharat Mata|Awakening Bharat Mata: The Political Beliefs of the Indian Right]]|publisher= [[Penguin Random House]] |year=2019|isbn= 9788185990309|pages=440|place= India}}

* {{Cite book|title= '''The Ayodhya Reference:''' The Supreme Court Judgement and Commentaries |publisher= South Asia Books |year=1995|isbn= 9780670091690|pages= 208|place= India}}

== External links ==

*{{Cite web|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/vantage/arun-jaitley-lutyens-delhi|title=The challenge to Jaitley is a challenge to business as usual in Lutyens' Delhi|last=Bal|first=Hartosh Singh|website=The Caravan|language=en|date=2015-12-28|access-date=2019-08-03}}
*[https://twitter.com/swapan55 Swapan Dasgupta] on [[Twitter]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 2010–19}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dasgupta, Swapan}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:Indian columnists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:La Martiniere Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of SOAS University of London]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education]]
[[Category:Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Indian male journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:Journalists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Writers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Politicians from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha]]

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Swapan Dasgupta