Ailing West Bengal Minister Subrata Mukherjee Dies at 75, ‘Big Blow’ Says Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal panchayat and rural development minister Subrata Mukherjee died while being treated for cardiac ailments at a state-run hospital in Kolkata on Thursday. Mukherjee was 75 and is survived by his wife. The minister was considered one of chief minister Mamata Banerjee‘s closest commanders. He had three other departments in his portfolio.

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

The chief minister, who was performing Kali Puja at her Kalighat residence, visited SSKM Hospital and announced that he was no more. Calling it a “big blow”, Mamata said, “Subrata Mukherjee was the life of the party, will not be able to see his body. He was supposed to be released from hospital.”

For Mamata, it is a massive loss as Mukherjee was her senior in her days of student politics. “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 people to pay their last respects. From there, it will be taken to his Ballygunge home and then to his ancestral home, Mamata added.

Sources in the hospital said the minister had a ‘stent thrombosis’, one of the fatal complications of percutaneous coronary intervention.

“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,” the CM said.

Mukherjee was the information and cultural affairs minister in the Siddhartha Shankar Roy cabinet from 1972 to 1977. Having completed 50 years in politics in the assembly election this time, Mukherjee also had the experience of working with Indira Gandhi. Considered close to her, it was during the Emergency (1975 to 1977) that he was handling the information and cultural affairs department. Despite that, he did not have poor relations with journalists.

He was also the 36th mayor of Kolkata from 2000 to 2005. He had been suffering from high blood sugar, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other age-related ailments. He was hospitalised with similar ailments in May, after he was arrested and sent to jail in connection with the Narada sting tape case. He was out on bail.

He was popular across all parties in Bengal politics. State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury 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.

State BJP 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.”

Senior CPI(M) leader Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya said, “He is a politician of the bygone era. He has always been a smiling personality and an intelligent politician. We may have certain differences of opinion but I consider him as one of the best politicians of Bengal I have ever seen.”