Chandra Prakash Bidesi

Chandra Prakash Bidesi OBE (22 November 1922 – 12 May 1988) was an Indo-Fijian businessman and politician. He served as a member of the Senate from 1976 to 1982.

Chandra Prakash Bidesi
Member of the Senate
In office
1976–1982
Personal details
Born22 November 1922
Suva, Fiji
Died12 May 1988(1988-05-12) (aged 65)
Suva, Fiji

Biography

Bidesi was born in the Muanivatu area of Suva in November 1922 and was educated at Muanivatu Indian School and St Columbas Claudius Memorial School.[1] He married and had six children.[1]

He was elected to Suva City Council in 1952. Although he lost his seat in 1954, he regained it in 1956 and remained a councillor until 1976.[2][1] He served as president of the Fiji Industrial Workers' Congress from 1957 to 1959 and then as vice-president from 1960 to 1962, and was also president of the Fiji Taxi Union for six years.[1] He contested the Southern Indo-Fijian seat in the 1963 general elections, but finished fourth out of five candidates.

After the National Federation Party was created in the late 1960s, Bidesi became a member. He served as Deputy Mayor of Suva from 1967 to 1968,[3] and was a candidate in the mayoral election in 1974, but was defeated by Navin Maharaj.[4] In 1976 he was appointed to the Senate as one of the nominees of the Leader of the Opposition Sidiq Koya, becoming leader of the NFP group.[1] He remained in the Senate until 1982. He was awarded an OBE in the 1984 New Year Honours.

He died in the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva in May 1988.[3]

References
  1. Who's who in Oceania, 1980-1981, p14
  2. Pacific Islands Year Book and Who's who, Issue 10, p537
  3. Transition Pacific Islands Monthly, July 1988, p45
  4. Suva's first Indian mayor Pacific Islands Monthly, December 1974, p7
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