New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh): Seasoned political leader Mukul Roy passed away early Monday after battling a prolonged illness, family members confirmed. He was 71.
Roy died of cardiac arrest at a private hospital where he had been under treatment for several days. According to his son, Subhranshu Roy, the veteran politician had slipped into a coma in recent days before breathing his last around 1:30 am.
A prominent figure in West Bengal politics, Roy was instrumental in the creation of the All India Trinamool Congress in 1998. As one of its founding members, he played a crucial organizational role in expanding the party’s footprint across the state during its formative years.
However, internal differences eventually led to a dramatic shift in his political journey. In 2017, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, a move that reshaped political alignments in West Bengal at the time. He later contested and won the 2021 Assembly elections from the Krishnanagar Uttar constituency on a BJP ticket. Soon after the elections, Roy returned to the Trinamool Congress, once again altering the state’s political narrative.
On the national stage, Roy briefly served as India’s Railway Minister in 2011 during the United Progressive Alliance’s second term in office, when the Trinamool Congress was a key ally at the Centre. He was also elected twice to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal, where he represented the state in Parliament.
Over a career spanning more than two decades, Roy earned a reputation as a skilled strategist and influential organizer, often working behind the scenes to shape political outcomes. His passing marks the end of a chapter in West Bengal’s turbulent and evolving political story.
