Senior Trinamool Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee died on Thursday while undergoing treatment for a cardiac ailment at a government hospital here. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave this information. Bengal’s Panchayat Minister Mukherjee was 75 years old. His wife is in his family. Mukherjee was in charge of three more departments. Another state minister, Firhad Hakim, said the senior Trinamool Congress leader had undergone ‘angioplasty’ earlier this week and died at 9:22 pm after suffering a heart attack. The Chief Minister was performing Kali Puja at her Kalighat residence, she went to the SSKM Hospital and announced that Mukherjee had passed away.
She said, “I cannot believe that he is no longer with us. He was a dedicated leader of the party. This is a personal loss for me.” Banerjee said Mukherjee’s body would be taken to Rabindra Sadan, the government auditorium, where people would be able to pay tribute to him on Friday. After this the body will be taken to Ballygunge and then to his ancestral residence.
Sources said that Mukherjee was admitted to the hospital on October 24 after suffering from breathing problems. Mukherjee had an ‘angioplasty’ on November 1 and two stents were inserted in the arteries of his heart.
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He was suffering from diabetes, lung disease and other old age ailments. After being arrested and jailed in the Narada sting tape case, the former mayor of Kolkata was hospitalized in May for similar ailments. He was out of jail on bail. Notably, Mukherjee was a rising Congress leader in West Bengal during Indira Gandhi’s second term as prime minister in the 1970s. He formed a trio along with two other Congress leaders, Somen Mitra and Priyaranjan Dasmunshi.
Mukherjee and Mitra had joined the Mamata Banerjee-led party in 2010 and 2008 respectively. Mitra returned to his old party in 2014, while Mukherjee remained in the Trinamool Congress. Dasmunshi passed away in 2017 and Mitra passed away in 2020. Banerjee said, “I have faced many calamities in my life but this is a huge setback. I don’t think there will be another person like Subrata da who will be so good and hardworking. The party and his constituency (Ballyganj) was his soul. I will not be able to see Subrata da’s body.”
He said, “this evening the principal of the hospital told me that Subrata da is fine and he is going back home tomorrow. The doctors tried their best.”
