CPM’s Sadhan Gupta was the first visually-challenged Indian to enter the Lok Sabha in 1953.
He was also the first such Advocate General of a state.
An accomplished singer of Rabindra Sangeet and folk songs, Gupta first fought against Sangh ideologue Shyama Prakash Mukherjee in Calcutta South-East seat but lost.
In 1953, Gupta won when the seat became vacant after Mukherjee’s death.
Gupta, who lost his vision as an infant after a smallpox attack, died in September 2015 at the age of 98.
(Published 11 May 2019, 08:19 IST)
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