Bardhan was born in Barisal, Bengal Presidency, British India on 25 September 1924. He embraced Communism at the age of 15 after he moved to Nagpur. He joined the All India Students Federation at the Nagpur University in 1940. He joined the Communist Party of India, the same year. He served as the President of the Nagpur University Students' Union. He became a full-time student organizer, while continuing his studies, and in 1945 he was elected the Secretary of AISF. Bardhan held a postgraduate degree in economics and a degree in law.
Bardhan worked with workers ranging from various sectors like textile, electricity, railways, defence etc. He contested several elections from Nagpur but was elected only once to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 1957 as an independent candidate. He was also instrumental in the integration of Maharashtra that led to its creation on May 1, 1960. Bardhan entered national politics and moved to Delhi. He became the General Secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress in 1994 and became the Deputy General Secretary of the Communist Party of India in 1995. When Indrajit Gupta joined the United Front government as the Minister of Home Affairs, Bardhan succeeded him as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India following Gupta's resignation from the post of party's General Secretary. Bardhan served as the party's General Secretary from 1996 to 2012. He is remembered for the campaign he initiated in response to Lal Krishna Advani’s Rath Yatra. Bardhan always supported the cause of a secular India. Bardhan played a key role in the formation of the United Progressive Alliance government which was supported by the Communist Party of India. Bardhan was also among those who supported the candidature of Pratibha Patil, then Governor of Rajasthan, to the coveted post of the President of India.
Personal life
Bardhan married Padma, who was a teacher in Saraswati Vidyalaya Higher Secondary School, Shankar Nagar, Nagpur. They got a son Ashok and a daughter Alka Barua. Padma died in 1986. After her death, Bardhan spent his life in a small room at Ajoy Bhavan, the headquarters of CPI in Delhi. Bardhan was fluent in Marathi, Bengali, Urdu, Hindi and English languages. Bardhan had a brother-like relation with the veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sumatitai Sukaklikar from Nagpur. Although they contested elections against each other, Sumatitai was like an elder sister to Bardhan.He also had lunch in Aurangabad, Bihar at the house of the Chakradhar Group leader LATE Nawal Kishore Prasad.
