BJP's Dilip Ghosh mourns Subrata Mukherjee's death: 'Had great relations with all parties'

Mourning the loss of 9-time MLA Subrata Mukherjee, BJP Vice President Dilip Ghosh on Friday, extolled the late minister's mass appeal and his political journey which began from student life. Stating that he held a special place in leaders from all parties, he said that Mukherjee was an experienced asset to the Mamata Banerjee cabinet. Subrata Mukherjee passed away at the age of 75 in the SSKM hospital, Kolkata on Thursday

BJP VP mourns Subrata Mukherjee's loss 

Subrata Mukherjee passes away

On Thursday, Mukherjee passed away after he complained of severe breathing problems, sources told PTI. While he was reportedly scheduled to be discharged from the state-run hospital on Friday, he suffered a massive cardiac arrest leading to his demise. At present, he was handling the portfolios of Panchayat and Rural Development, Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction in the Mamata Banerjee-led Cabinet.

After rushing to the hospital, the West Bengal CM remarked, "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 added that his mortal remains will be kept at Rabindra Sadan on the morning of November 5 so that people can pay their last respects. Leaders across the political spectrum including WB Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and WB Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury mourned his loss. 

About Subrata Mukherjee

Born on June 14, 1946, in the South 24 Parganas district, Subrata Mukherjee was the eldest of 5 siblings. Mukherjee - a graduate of anthropology -was first elected to the WB Assembly in 1971 from Ballygunge on a Congress ticket. In 1972, he was appointed as a Minister of State in the Siddhartha Shankar Ray-led government at the age of 26 thus becoming the youngest person to become a Minister in the state. While he lost his seat in 1977, he won from Jorabagan in the 1982 Assembly polls and retained that seat until 1996.

Parting ways with Congress, Mukherjee joined TMC in 1999 and served as the MLA from Chowranghee during 1996-2006. He jumped ship to NCP in 2005 before eventually joining Congress once again. However, Mukherjee came a distant third in the Chowranghee constituency in the 2006 Assembly election. In 2010, he rejoined TMC and became an MLA a year later after contesting from Ballygunge- a seat which he retained until his death.

Mukherjee was also accused of accepting bribes in exchange for extending unofficial favours in a sting operation conducted by Narada news founder Mathew Samuel. He was arrested by the CBI along with Cabinet colleague Firhad Hakim, TMC MLA Madan Mitra, and ex-legislator Sovan Chatterjee in connection with the Narada case on May 17 earlier this year. Although a special CBI court granted them bail, the Calcutta High Court stayed the order and sent them to judicial custody. Subsequently, it allowed them to be kept under house arrest and granted them bail on May 28.