Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi

Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi (Bengali: প্রিয়রঞ্জন দাশমুন্সি Prio Rônjon Dashmunshi; born November 13, 1945) was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Raiganj of West Bengal and is a member of the Indian National Congress party.

Career

Dasmunsi was President of Youth Congress in West Bengal from 1970 to 1971. He entered the Indian Parliament in 1971. He became a minister for the first time in 1985, when he was sworn in as Union Minister of State, Commerce. Within his home State, he was known for his strong anti-Left credentials.

He was the cabinet minister in Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting during the first term of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This posting led to several controversial decisions, including several bans of Western television networks, including a three month ban on the Sony-owned television network AXN and Fashion TV following the broadcast of programs deemed "obscene" by Dasmunsi. Dasmunsi was also responsible for the popular, if controversial, decision to require Indian sports broadcaster Nimbus Communications to share broadcast rights for Indian cricket matches with the state television network, Doordarshan — this despite Nimbus paying hundreds of millions of dollars for the rights to broadcast Indian cricket matches over four years.

Dasmunsi served as the President of...
Read More