Satish Chandra Samanta

Who was Satish Chandra Samanta?

Satish Chandra Samanta was an Indian independence movement activist and a member of the Lok Sabha from 1952–77. At the age of 15 he was influenced by his guru, Swami Prajnanananda Saraswati and adopted the life of Brahmacharya and took up a life of serving the people.

He quit Bengal Engineering College in his second year of study in order to fight for freedom of India from the clutches of the British. He started serving through, the activities organised by the local branch of the Indian National Congress. Later, he became the president of Tamluk Congress Committee and remained an active congress member for decades. He was known for his leadership qualities and other constructive work. His leadership qualities could be observed during the formation of a parallel government named Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar in Tamluk during the Quit India Movement. This body was formed on 17 December 1942 and Samanta, looked after its functioning until his arrest in June, 1943. It lasted till September, 1944. It undertook cyclone relief work, gave grants to schools and organized an armed Vidyut Vahini