Basdeo Panday (pronounced [bɑːsəd̪eːoː pɑːⁿɖeː]; 25 May 1933 – 1 January 2024) was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian statesman, lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, and actor who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001.

He lost the party's internal elections on 24 January 2010, to deputy leader and future prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

[8] His maternal grandparents were from Laxmanpur, a farming village of the Azamgarh district in the Bhojpur region of the present-day state of Uttar Pradesh in the Hindi Belt of North India, which he visited on a state trip to India in 1997 and met with extended members of his family and donated INR₹1.5 million to help develop the village.

While in the United Kingdom, Panday worked as a laborer on a building site, a clerk at the London County Council, and an electrician to support himself through university.

[16][17] In 1965, he was awarded a Commonwealth scholarship to go to the Delhi School of Economics in India to pursue a post-graduate degree in economics and political science; however, he turned down the offer and returned to Trinidad and Tobago in 1965 to practice law because of family commitments and the changing political situation in the newly independent Trinidad and Tobago.

[6][18] Panday's political career began in 1965, when he joined the Workers and Farmers Party and made an unsuccessful run for Parliament.

[20] On 8 February 1975, amidst the backdrop of labour struggles, Panday met with fellow union leaders George Weekes and Raffique Shah.

[21][24] Following a poor performance in the 1980 local elections, Panday co-founded the Trinidad and Tobago National Alliance with A. N. R. Robinson of the Democratic Action Congress and Lloyd Best of the Tapia House Group.

[4] The party soon fractured along racial lines; Panday accused Robinson and the government of discrimination against Indians and autocratic rule.

[18][30][31] Panday and the other expelled ministers founded the Caucus for Love, Unity and Brotherhood (CLUB '88), which he revealed in October would become the United National Congress (UNC) on 30 April 1989.

The 2001 general election resulted in an unprecedented 18–18 tie between the UNC and PNM, sparking a constitutional crisis over who should form government.

[45] Secret investigations into Panday began after the 2001 election, when the Central Authority and the Anti Corruption Bureau was set up by the PNM.

[36] On 31 May 2005, Panday, his wife, Oma, former UNC MP Carlos John, and businessman Ishwar Galbaransingh (chairman of Northern Construction Limited) were arrested on corruption charges.

[48] This was called a punitive bail both by supporters of the UNC and by former Attorney General Ramesh Maharaj, a sometimes political opponent of Panday.

[54][55] On 24 April 2006, Panday was found guilty on all three counts he was charged with back in 2002, and sentenced to two years with hard labour and a TT$20,000 fine.

[60] Information that surfaced later on, linked Chief Magistrate McNicolls to a multimillion-dollar land deal and a company associated with one of the main witnesses in the Basdeo Panday trial.

[61] This information, along with the fact that Chief Magistrate McNicolls refused to give evidence for the criminal prosecution of the Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma, who he claimed tried to influence him to rule in Panday's favor, which caused that prosecution to fail, were the main arguments used by Panday's lawyers in his Appeal Court hearing.

[49] On 25 May 2019 (Panday's birthday), his daughter Mickela, after leaving the UNC, formed a new political party called the Patriotic Front.

Panday, being estranged from the UNC, became associated with the Patriotic Front and in 2020, a year after, on his birthday and first anniversary of the party, he said he would support his daughter's party in the 2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election and he even expressed interest in returning to politics given the situation of the country and said that he could no not sit by idly and watch the country continue on its current path.

[73][74] Shortly after beginning his first term as prime minister, Panday granted the Shouter Baptists a national holiday.

[79][80] Panday struck back in 1997 by warning of guidelines for state-sponsored competitions to prevent "taxpayers money [being] used to divide the society, whether it be on racial or any other grounds".

[82] Panday was widely associated with the Trinidadian Hindustani word neemakharam (ingrate),[83][84] and popularized the term outside of the Indo-Trinidadian community.

[85] He used the word to describe his political opponents, including Winston Dookeran, Trevor Sudama, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Ramesh Maharaj, and other rival UNC members.

Ultimately, managing editor Alwin Chow, Madiera, and several other staff members left the Guardian and went on to form a new newspaper, The Independent.

[96] During the COVID-19 pandemic videos that Panday's daughter, Mickela, posted of him gardening and playing with his dog Norman went viral on social media and he was lauded by the news as setting an example by following the mandate to stay home to help combat the spread of the virus.

[96][97][98] Basdeo Panday died on 1 January 2024 in Jacksonville, Florida at the age of 90 surrounded by his family after being hospitalized for a few weeks.

On 9 January, his funeral procession began at his residence in Bryan's Gate, Phillipine where the religious aspect of the funeral was conducted, then it proceeded to the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA) in San Fernando where speeches and eulogies were read from the President of Trinidad and Tobago, leaders of various faiths, and members of his family and friends, and arti and garlanding was done.

Attendees included the President of Trinidad and Tobago Christine Kangaloo, the Prime Minister Keith Rowley, Chief Justice Ivor Archie, and Leader of the Opposition Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

[104] His brother-in-law and Indian classical singer Dev Bansraj Ramkissoon, Rana Mohip, and soca artiste Kees Dieffenthaller sang at his funeral.

[105] Numerous memorial services were held for him across the country by various institutions and people such as his alma mater Presentation College, San Fernando, the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, and Roodal Moonilal who, due to Panday's love for Indian classical music, held an Indian classical singing concert in Debe in honor of Panday with tributes from numerous artistes such as Rakesh Yankaran, Dubraj Persad, and Rooplal Girdharie.