Freedom fighter and the fourth Governor of West Bengal Padmaja Naidu passed away on this day. She was 75. Padmaja was born in Hyderabad in 1900. Her mother was the poet and freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu.
In 1942, Padmaja was imprisoned for taking part in the Quit India Movement. She was elected to the Indian Parliament in 1950. She was appointed Governor of West Bengal in 1956 and remained so till 1967. She was chairperson of Indian Red Cross from 1971 to 1972. Padmaja was close to the Nehru family.
The New York Times mentions that in 1960, as Governor of West Bengal, she had hosted a dinner in honour of Nikita S. Khrushchev “at which the Soviet Premier sharply attacked Indians for not sharing his bitterness toward Western economic aid”.