Mukul Roy, 'chanakya' of Bengal politics and former railway minister, dies at 71
PTC News Desk: Former Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy, once a close aide of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, died of cardiac arrest at 1:30 am on Sunday at Apollo Hospital in Salt Lake, Kolkata, his son Subhranshu Roy confirmed. Roy, who had been diagnosed with dementia, was suffering from multiple ailments and had been in a coma a few days ago.
Once a close aide of Mamata Banerjee and long regarded as the second-in-command in the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), Mukul Roy stunned many when he defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2017, just two years ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. He played a pivotal role in expanding the BJP’s grassroots presence in West Bengal, helping transform it into the state’s principal opposition force. A key architect of the party’s strategy, Roy contributed significantly to the BJP winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, Roy contested on a BJP ticket and won from Krishnanagar. However, his clout within the party gradually diminished, eventually prompting his return to Mamata Banerjee’s camp.
Roy exited the BJP a month after Suvendu Adhikari became the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal, following his narrow victory over Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly polls.
Often dubbed the “Chanakya of Bengal politics” for his sharp political instincts, Roy rose through the ranks to become the TMC’s national general secretary after co-founding the party with Mamata Banerjee in 1998.
After playing a key role in the TMC’s victory over the Left Front in 2011, Roy was appointed Minister of State for Shipping in the Second Manmohan Singh ministry (UPA II) government. He later briefly served as India’s Railway Minister from March to September 2012.
However, Roy’s relationship with Mamata Banerjee soured after his name surfaced in the Saradha chit fund scam and later in a sting operation linked to the Narada sting operation. Following these controversies, he was removed as TMC’s national general secretary in 2015.
- With inputs from agencies
