Mohammed Salim (politician)

Mohammed Salim
State Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), West Bengal
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 March 2022
Preceded by	Surjya Kanta Mishra
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 2014–2019
Preceded by	Deepa Dasmunsi
Succeeded by	Debasree Chaudhuri
Constituency	Raiganj
In office 2004–2009
Preceded by	Ajit Kumar Panja
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Constituency	Calcutta North East
Minister for Technical Education and Training, Youth Welfare, Minority Development and Welfare, Self Employment, Government of West Bengal
In office 16 May 2001 – 17 May 2004
Preceded by	Satyasadhan Chakraborty
Member of Legislative Assembly, West Bengal
In office 2001–2004
Preceded by	Sultan Ahmed
Succeeded by	Md. Abu Sufayen
Constituency	Entally
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office 3 April 1990 – 16 May 2001
Prime Minister	V. P. Singh Chandra Shekhar P. V. Narasimha Rao Atal Bihari Vajpayee H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Constituency	West Bengal
Member of the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 April 2015
Preceded by	Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
Personal details
Born	(1957-06-05) 5 June 1957 Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Political party	Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Spouse	Dr. Rosina Khatun
Children	2
Residence	Kolkata
Alma mater	University of Calcutta Jadavpur University
Website	mdsalim.org
As of 17 September, 2006 Source: []

Mohammed Salim (born 5 June 1957) is an Indian politician, who is the incumbent State Secretary in West Bengal of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was inducted in the politburo of CPI(M) in the 21st party congress organised at Visakhapatnam in 2015. He was a Member of the 16th Lok Sabha, representing Raiganj constituency. Earlier, he was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha, representing the Calcutta North East constituency of West Bengal. After delimitation, in the 2009 Lok Sabha election Salim contested the new Calcutta North constituency, and lost to Sudip Bandyopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress. Mohammed Salim is contesting the 2024 Indian general election as the Left Front candidate from the Murshidabad (Lok Sabha constituency).

Early life

Born on 5 June 1957 in the Kidderpore area of South Kolkata to Azizul Haque, an employee of Kolkata Port, and Ladly Haque, Salim was one of nine siblings. He did his schooling from St. Barnabas High School, Calcutta. Afterwards he studied Humanities. During this time, he was saved from drowning in a village in Uluberia by a woman, with whose family he still maintains contact.

Political career

He joined the Maulana Azad College in Kolkata to study philosophy. During his college days, he became a part of the contemporary student's movement in West Bengal and became an active member of the Students' Federation of India. He was elected general secretary of the students' union of his college immediately after re-imposition of democracy post the Indian Emergency. He has stated that the Emergency was the most influential event in his life, which made him opt for politics.

After passing out from Maulana Azad College, he enrolled in Jadavpur University to obtain his master's degree in philosophy. During his days of student activism in Jadavpur, he met up with his future colleagues at CPI(M) Nilotpal Basu and Manab Mukherjee. He served as the President of Kolkata district committee of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (D.Y.F.I.) during 1983-1989.

He also served as the General Secretary of the DYFI from 1991 to 2001. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal in 1990 and served two terms till 2001.

In the West Bengal assembly elections held in 2001, he was elected from the Entally. He served as the Minister for Technical Education and Training, Youth Welfare, Minority Development and Welfare, Self Employment till 2004.

In the 14th General Elections held in 2004, he won from the Calcutta North East constituency of West Bengal and served as the deputy leader of the CPI(M) Lok Sabha group. After delimitation, in the 2009 Lok Sabha election Salim contested the new Calcutta North constituency, and lost to Sudip Bandyopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress.

He was a member of the 16th Lok Sabha, representing Raiganj constituency. In 2019 Indian general election he again contested from Raiganj but lost to Debasree Chaudhuri of Bharatiya Janata Party gathering only 14.25% votes and losing his security deposit after coming third. He also served as the deputy leader of the CPI(M) Lok Sabha group between 2004 and 2009 and again between 2014 and 2019. He also contested from the Chanditala Vidhan Sabha Constituency in the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, but lost to actor Swati Khandoker of TMC with a margin over 60,000 votes.

He was also elected to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in 1998. He was later inducted in the state committee and state secretariat in 2006. He was elected to the politburo of C.P.I.(M.) in the 21st party congress organised at Visakhapatnam in 2015.

In 2022, he was elected as Secretary of West Bengal state committee of CPI(M). He has led efforts to rejuvenate the party in West Bengal after it was routed in the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election.

See also

• Communist Party of India (Marxist), West Bengal