Chittaranjan Das Biography
(Leader of the Swaraj Party in Bengal Under British Rule)
Birthday: November 5, 1870 (Scorpio)
Born In: Kolkata, India
Chittaranjan Das was one of the most prominent political and nationalist personalities in Bengal when Bengal was going through a very crucial time of ideological and political change. During the Non-Cooperation movement, Das became a symbol of patriotism and courage. He was the one who first started to boycott everything British, including clothes. Das was a lawyer by profession and made a name for himself when he returned to India after finishing his studies abroad, took up law practice and defended the great Sri Aurbindo Ghose in a court suit filed against him. He soon left law and got knee deep into the nationalist movement and with his political vision and foresightedness, tact and oratory skill, he was chosen to be the leader of Congress party in Bengal. He took active part in the Non-Cooperation movement with Gandhi and even went to jail in the process. But after the failure of the movement, he became disillusioned and proposed a strategy to end dyarchy but Congress did not accept it and he formed his own party - Swarajya Party - along with Motilal Nehru. For his strong belief in the concept of self government for India, he was called Deshabandhu.