Siddhartha Shankar Ray, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (1972–1977), Governor of Punjab (1986–1989), died of renal failure.he was , 90

Siddhartha Shankar Ray  was an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress died of renal failure.he was , 90. He was a prominent barrister, Punjab Governor and Education minister of India.^[1][2][3] He was also the ambassador of India to the United States of America^[4][5] and served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1972 to 1977.^[6]

(20 October 1920 – 6 November 2010) 

Ray's father, Sudhir Kumar Ray, was a well known barrister of Calcutta High Court and mother Aparna Devi, was the eldest daughter of the nationalist leader 'Deshbandhu' Chittaranjan Dasand Basanti Devi. His younger sister is Justice Manjula Bose, one of the first two women judges of the Calcutta High Court. Ray was married to Maya Ray, who grew up in England, who was once referred to as "a noted barrister and former elected official" by Thomas J. Manton, a now deceased member of the United States House of Representatives.

Ray was educated at Presidency College, Calcutta, and then was called to the Bar in England. While in college, he was Captain the Presidency College cricket team. He was a university triple blue in sports.

Ray died on 6 November 2010 at the age of 90 from renal failure.^[7] He is survived by his wife Maya.

Ray started his career as a barrister in the Calcutta High Court. Later, helped by Ashoke Kumar Sen, he started his political career as the Cabinet Minister of Judicial Affairs in Bidhan Chandra Ray's cabinet in West Bengal. Later, through the 1960s he rose rapidly in Indian national level politics in Delhi to became the Union Cabinet Minister of Education & Youth Services for the Government of India.

After the Congress won the General Election of 1972, he became the Chief Minister of West Bengal from March 19, 1972 to June 21, 1977. He took office shortly after the Bangladesh Liberation War, and his administration was faced with the massive problem of resettling over a million refugees in various parts of the state. The civic services of Calcutta in particular found rehabilitation of the Bangladeshi refugees to be an uphill task, but the state government, under Ray's guidance, performed this task with much credit.

Later, he had the distinction of serving as the Governor of Punjab from April 2, 1986 to December 8, 1989. When the Congress came back to power once again in Delhi in 1991, Ray was sent as India's Ambassador to the United States. He remained in the USA from 1992 to 1996. His tenure in Washington was widely considered to be very successful.

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