Former Bengal deputy speaker Asish Banerjee found dead at Trinamool office

Former West Bengal Assembly deputy speaker and Trinamool Congress leader Asish Banerjee was found dead at a party office next to his home in Rampurhat, Birbhum district, on Sunday morning.

Police said his body was found hanging and has been sent for postmortem.

Banerjee was a five-time MLA from Rampurhat and served as deputy speaker when Mamata Banerjee was chief minister. He had also served as Bengal’s education and agriculture minister after the Trinamool came to power.

A handwritten note was reportedly found near his body. The contents of the purported note have not been independently verified. According to local reports, Banerjee wrote that no one was responsible for his death and expressed regret over entering politics. He reportedly advised young members of his family not to enter politics and said he had not been involved in corruption.

In the note, he also claimed he had no decision-making authority in the Tarapith Rampurhat Development Authority and said he was not involved in tender decisions, cheque signing, plan approvals or issuing no-objection certificates. He alleged that attempts had been made to malign him.

Banerjee lost the state election earlier this year to BJP’s Dhruba Saha. He lived in Rampurhat’s Hattalapara neighbourhood.

Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee said the purported final note raised questions about a “sustained smear campaign” against the former MLA. He criticised what he described as a practice of amplifying allegations and putting reputations on trial before the truth was established.

Banerjee had stepped down as chairman of the Trinamool’s Birbhum district core committee in June but said he would remain a general member.