‘Chanakya of Bengal politics’ passes away at 71: Former TMC leader Mukul Roy dies of cardiac arrest

Veteran politician and former railway minister Mukul Roy died of cardiac arrest at the age of 71, at Apollo Hospital in Salt Lake, Kolkata, at 1.30 am on Monday. The news was confirmed by his son, Subhranshu Roy. Often referred to as the “Chanakya of Bengal politics”, he represented Krishnanagar Uttar in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. During his long career, he also served as the 32nd railway minister and was elected twice to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal.Roy was among the founding members of the All India Trinamool Congress when it was formed in 1998. Following differences with the party leadership, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2017.In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, Roy won the Krishnanagar Uttar seat on a BJP ticket, but later returned to the Trinamool Congress after the polls. During his political career, he also served as railway minister in 2011 in the UPA-2 government, when the Trinamool Congress was part of the ruling coalition at the Centre.