Arun Kumar Roy, popularly known as A. K. Roy (1935–2019), was an Indian Marxist politician, trade unionist and a co-founder of the Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC), a regional left-wing party based in the Dhanbad–Jharia coal belt of present-day Jharkhand. He served three terms as a Member of Parliament from the Dhanbad Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar (now Jharkhand) and is widely regarded as one of the most prominent voices of the movement for a separate Jharkhand state, alongside Shibu Soren and Binod Bihari Mahato.
| Full name | Arun Kumar Roy |
|---|---|
| Born | 1935 |
| Died | 2019 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Political affiliation | Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC) |
| Constituency | Dhanbad (Lok Sabha) |
| Terms in Lok Sabha | Three (1977, 1980, 1989) |
| Known for | Trade union work in coal belt; Jharkhand statehood movement |
A. K. Roy trained as a chemical engineer and was employed at the Sindri Fertilizer Factory in the Dhanbad region before turning full-time to politics and trade union work. He came into public life through his involvement with workers in the fertilizer plant and later with miners across the Dhanbad–Jharia coalfields, one of India's most important industrial regions.
Originally associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Roy parted ways with the party and, along with associates in the coal belt, founded the Marxist Coordination Committee in the early 1970s. The MCC remained a small but influential regional force, drawing support from coal miners, industrial workers and sections of the Adivasi population.
Roy was elected to the Lok Sabha from Dhanbad on three occasions:
In Parliament he was known for raising issues concerning coal miners, industrial labour, mafia control over the coal trade, and the demand for a separate Jharkhand state carved out of southern Bihar.
A. K. Roy formed a political triad with Shibu Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the labour leader Binod Bihari Mahato. Together they articulated a vision of Jharkhand that combined Adivasi self-assertion, mineworkers' rights and a critique of resource extraction by outside interests. Although the state of Jharkhand was finally formed in 2000, Roy's ideological contribution to the movement is widely acknowledged.
Roy was known for an austere personal lifestyle, his refusal to accumulate wealth or property, and for living modestly in Dhanbad even after his terms in Parliament. He continued to be associated with the MCC and with workers' causes in the coal belt until his later years. He died in 2019.
A. K. Roy is remembered as a rare combination of engineer, intellectual, trade unionist and parliamentarian. His career illustrates the intersection of left politics with regional and Adivasi aspirations in eastern India, and the politics of the coal belt during the 1970s and 1980s. The Marxist Coordination Committee, though limited in geographical reach, remains identified with his legacy.