Ex-Railway Minister and prominent TMC leader Mukul Roy passes away at 71

Roy, 71, was admitted at the Apollo Hospital in Salt Lake, Kolkata, breathed his last around 1.30 am.

Former Railway Minister and TMC leader Mukul Roy has passed away due to cardiac arrest early on Monday. 

Roy, 71, was admitted at the Apollo Hospital in Salt Lake, Kolkata, breathed his last around 1.30 am.

His son Subhranshu Roy has confirmed the demise of veteran TMC leader. His son said, "He was suffering from multiple ailments,”, according to Indian Express.

Mukul Roy, one of the founding members of Trinamool Congress (TMC), which was established in January 1998, was once regarded as a close confidant of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
 
Like Banerjee, Roy began his political journey with the Youth Congress in West Bengal. After the formation of the TMC, he played a key organisational role and was appointed the party’s general secretary.

Over time, he became the party’s prominent representative in New Delhi. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2006 and served as the party’s leader in the Upper House from 2009 to 2012.

In the UPA government's second term, he initially served as Minister of State, Shipping. He later went on to assume office of Union Railway Minister in March 2012, replacing party colleague Dinesh Trivedi.

Often referred to as the “Chanakya of Bengal politics,” he was long regarded as the second-in-command of the TMC and a key strategist for the party in both West Bengal and New Delhi.

After the TMC ended 34 years of Left Front rule in 2011 and Mamata Banerjee assumed office as Chief Minister, Roy played a crucial role in consolidating the party’s position in West Bengal. 

As the party’s general secretary until 2015, he managed a significant wave of defections from the CPI(M) and the Congress, bolstering the TMC’s political strength across the state.

Mukul Roy's political career had also been embroiled in controversy when his name was linked to both the Saradha chit fund scam and the Narada sting operation.

As his differences with the TMC widened, he formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in November 2017. Roy played a key role in strengthening the party’s presence in West Bengal, contributing to its victory in 18 seats during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

He also helped the BJP attract several senior TMC leaders and was elected as a BJP MLA from Krishnanagar Uttar in the 2021 Assembly polls. However, his relationship with the BJP soon soured, and in June 2021, he returned to the Trinamool Congress.

The last rites will be held when and where is yet to be decided.