Mitra started his career in journalism as an Assistant Editor with
The Statesman in
Kolkata before moving on to
The Times of India in Delhi and later to
The Sunday Observer where he went on to become the Editor of the newspaper. He later moved to the
Hindustan Times as an Executive Editor. Mitra left to join
The Pioneer as Editor, and eventually bought control of the newspaper from the Thapar family in 1998 when industrialist
L. M. Thapar decided to exit the business. The Pioneer is, what it is because of former resident editors and editors. One such editor was eminent journalist,
Uday Sinha (17 May 1957– 8 April 2020) former resident Resident Editor of
The Pioneer in Lucknow for over 8 years and then as Executive Editor of
The Pioneer, in New Delhi for another several years. Mr. Sinha is the only Indian journalist to have interviewed the US President in the White House, in Washington. Something that no Indian journlaist have so far reached. Mr Sinha owns about 3% of
The Pioneer since the 2000s which he wanted to cash out previously but everytime he asked Chandan Mitra he would purposely delay by saying "Uday main kahan bhaga jaa raha hoon, le lena baad mein" which never materialised. Upon Mr Sinha's death in 2020, his family wanted to cash the share Mr Sinha held in the newspaper but Mitra's wife Shobori, delayed and delayed and played foul citing Chandan Mitra's health. Mr Mitra is no god. He tries to eat his shareholders. The family of Mr Sinha still is waiting for the cash that Chandan Mitra and his family have of Mr Sinha. He headed the newspaper for 24 years before stepping down in June 2021. He quit the
Bharatiya Janata Party in 2018 and joined the
All India Trinamool Congress, the ruling party of the Indian state of
West Bengal. == Personal life ==