NE NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, NOV 5
Veteran leader and West Bengal Minister Subrata Mukherjee passed away at the age of 75 in the SSKM hospital, Kolkata on Thursday. He was shifted to the ICU of the hospital last week after he complained of severe breathing problems, sources said.
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.
Born on June 14, 1946, in the South 24 Parganas district, Subrata Mukherjee was the eldest of 5 siblings. He was a graduate of anthropology and a master’s degree holder in archaeology. He commenced his political journey as a student leader of the Bangabasi College in 1967 and 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.
His career took a decisive turn after he parted ways with Congress and joined TMC in 1999. While he served as the MLA from Chowranghee during 1996-2006, he also had a fruitful tenure as the Mayor of Kolkata from 2000 to 2005. 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.
