Parliamentarian
Gupta was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament of India, for the first time in 1960, in a by-election. Thereafter, except for a short period from 1977 to 1980, he was a member till his death. In later years, as a result of his being the oldest member of the Lok Sabha he served as protem Speaker in 1996, 1998 and 1999. The office of protem Speaker is a ceremonial one mainly to conduct the swearing in of the newly elected members.
He was a member of second and third Lok Sabha from 1962 to 1967 representing Calcutta South-West; fourth and fifth Lok Sabha from 1967 to 1977 representing Alipore; seventh and eighth Lok Sabha from 1980 to 1989 representing Basirhat; and ninth to thirteenth Lok Sabha from 1989 till his death representing Midnapore parliamentary constituencies of West Bengal.
Gupta served on a number of parliamentary committees with distinction. He was chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on defence during 1995-1996 and was chairman of the committee on subordinate legislation from 1999 till his death. He was a member of the rules committee during 1990-1991, general purposes committee during 1985-1989 and from 1998 onwards; committee on defence from 1998-2000, committee on petitions during 1986-1987, business advisory committee from 1986-1987 and in 1989, library committee during 1990-1991 and the committee to review Lok Sabha Secretariat rules in 1990.
As an opposition stalwart and leader of the CPI group, Gupta's speeches in the Lok Sabha were marked by ‘force with moderation, criticism with reason’, and earned him the admiration of even his political opponents. Though not enamoured of office, Gupta accepted the cabinet berth in the United Front Government during 1996-98. As Home Minister, Gupta was still blunt about government's failures and raised many an eyebrow among the treasury benches with his frank observations. When he was the Home Minister and the BJP the main opposition party, his favourite phrase on meeting the more vocal opposition members after a stormy day was: "If I were in the Opposition I'd have done what you did."
Gupta was conferred with the ‘Outstanding Parliamentarian’ Award in 1992. He served the Lok Sabha for 37 years, and when he died President K.R. Narayanan paid a tribute, using three characteristics in his condolence message that suitably describes the man: "Gandhian simplicity, democratic outlook and deep commitment to values."
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