Leaving void in Bengal politics, minister and senior Trinamool Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee dies at 75

The former Kolkata mayor breathed his last at 9:22 PM. He was recovering at the hospital after being placed with a coronary artery stent.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her shock at the passing away of her party veteran who was a Congress party stalwart before joining the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and was a political mentor of Banerjee during the 1970s.

"I have seen several disasters in my life, but Subrata da's loss is irreplaceable for me. There won't be another person like him. He was to be released from hospital tomorrow but succumbed to a massive heart attack tonight. Doctors had tried a lot to save him," Banerjee said after visiting the SSKM Hospital.

"He was doing well and was about to be released tomorrow, but had a severe heart attack tonight. Mamata Banerjee is completely shattered," Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim said while speaking to reporters.

Mukherjee will be cremated on Friday. His body will be taken out of SSKM's Woodburn Block  and it will be kept at a Kolkata mortuary.

His body will then be taken to Rabindra Sadan on Friday morning where party leaders and general public can pay their last tributes to their leader.

The veteran leader's mortal remains will be taken to his Ballygunge residence and his club, Ekdalia Evergreen, which hosts one of the famous community Durga Pujas in south Kolkata under his guidance for decades. Later, he will be cremated at the Keoratala crematorium.

Mamata Banerjee said she won't be joining Mukherjee's last journey tomorrow as she has been completely shattered by the loss and can't deal with the situation.

Mukherjee started his political stint as a student activist during his higher education in Kolkata. He joined the Chhatra Parishad, a student wing of the Indian National Congress, in the 1960s.

Mukherjee was close to late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, along with the late Congress leader Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi. 

In 1971 and 1972, Mukherjee was elected to the legislative assembly from the Ballygunge Assembly constituency. In 1972, he was appointed as Minister of State in the Siddhartha Shankar Ray ministry as Minister of Information and Cultural Affairs. He also held an additional responsibility as Minister of State for local government.

Though he was defeated later from Ballygunge under the start of Left dominance in Bengal politics, he was elected from Jorabagan constituency in 1982 and he continued to remain an MLA from the seat until 1998.

In 1999, he joined the Trinamool Congress founded by Mamata Banerjee, breaking away from Congress.

He was made the Mayor of Kolkata in 2000, as a Trinamool Congress candidate. However, even after being the Mayor as a Trinamool leader, he decided not to resign as a Congress member of the Legislative Assembly.

Ahead of the civic polls in 2005, Mukherjee quit Trinamool Congress following differences with the party chief Mamata Banerjee and joined the Congress once again.

He was able to put up an alliance with the Congress and several marginal players under the platform of Paschimbanga Unnayan Mancha.

Although he was able to get elected to the corporation, his front suffered a humiliating defeat.

In fact, even as he left theTrinamool Congress, he did not resign as a Trinamool member in the legislative assembly until the end of its term in 2006.

In 2009, he fought from Bankura Lok Sabha constituency on the Congress ticket and lost.

In May 2010, Mukherjee rejoined Trinamool Congress leaving the post of Pradesh Congress Working President. He contested the 2011 Assembly elections from the Ballygunge seat.

The veteran politician was made the All India President of the INTTUC  February 2012.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he fought from Bankura and lost to Bharatiya Janata Party's Subhas Sarkar.

However, Mukherjee made a comeback with a huge margin in the 2021 Bengal Assembly polls on a TMC ticket  from Ballygunge.

In recent years he was embroiled in the Narada sting operation controversy where several top Trinamool Congress leaders, including him, were caught on camera taking bribes.

In May this year, Mukherjee, along with other present and former TMC leaders, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Narada sting operation. He later got bail from a special CBI court.

Bengal Minister Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay expressed grief on Facebook and wrote: "There are no words to express my grief. We go a long way back. I will miss Subrata Mukherjee. So many memories. The only person in the party who would call me by saying “Tui”. Rest in Peace my friend Subrata Mukherjee."

Former TMC leader and presently Bengal's leader of oppositions Suvendu Adhikari condoled the death of his former colleague.

In a tweet, he wrote: "I am deeply anguished & pained by the passing away of veteran politician & senior WB Cabinet Minister Shri Subrata Mukherjee. My thoughts are with his bereaved family members, admirers & supporters.
May his soul attains eternal peace. Om Shanti."

BJP State President Sukanta Majumdar also expressed grief at Mukherjee's death.

"Subrata Mukherjee was a stalwart of Bengal politics. I pray his soul rests in peace and my deep condolence for his family members," said Majumdar.

Former cricketer and ex-Bengal Minister Manoj Tiwary tweeted: "Deeply saddened by the sad demise of West Bengal Panchayat Minister & one of the powerful senior leaders of our party Mr Subrata Mukherjee. May his soul rest in peace."