West Bengal minister Subrata Mukherjee dies at 75; 'huge loss' says CM Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: Senior Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee passed away on Thursday following a cardiac arrest. He was 75.

He is survived by his wife. He had been suffering from high blood sugar, CoPD and other age-related ailments.

In October, Subrata Mukherjee was admitted to the state-run SSKM hospital after he suffered a major heart attack.

The veteran politician who underwent angioplasty early this week, died at 9.22 PM after suffering a massive cardiac arrest, state minister Firhad Hakim said.

As per hospital sources, Mukherjee was recuperating and was on the verge of being discharged but he suffered from another big attack on Thursday.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the hospital to see Subrata Mukherjee, said that it was a terrible loss to her.

"I still can't believe he is no longer with us. He was such a dedicated party leader. It is a personal loss for me," she said.

His body will be taken to Rabindra Sadan, a government-owned auditorium, on Friday for the people to pay their last respect. From there, it will be taken to his Ballygunge home and then to his ancestral home, Ms Banerjee added.

Mukherjee was an up and coming Congress leader of West Bengal during the time of Indira Gandhi's second term of prime ministership in the 1970s. He had formed a trident with other two Congress leaders - Somen Mitra and Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi.

Mukherjee and Mitra joined the Mamata Banerjee-led party in 2010 and 2008 respectively. While Mitra returned to his old party in 2014, Mukherjee remained in the TMC. Dasmunsi and Mitra died in 2017 and 2020 respectively.

"I have faced many disasters in my life but this is a very big blow. I do not think there will be another man like Subrata da who was such a nice and hard-working person. The party and his constituency (Ballygunge) were his soul. I will not be able to see Subrata da's body."

West Bengal Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury also condoled his death.

"This is a big loss for West Bengal. It feels like I have lost my elder brother. A few days back, I went to see him in the hospital and spoke to him. It's a big loss for Indian politics," he said.

The BJP's West Bengal president, Dr Sukanta Majumdar described Mukherjee's death as the end of a great era of Bengal politics.

"It's definitely very sad. He was the youngest Cabinet minister in the Siddhartha Shankar Ray government. From then till today, he was a popular politician. May his soul rest in peace."

Mukherjee was also the chief of a club that organises one of the most popular Durga Pujas of the city.