A key architect of Trinamool’s rise and later a pivotal BJP strategist in Bengal, Mukul Roy’s political journey saw dramatic shifts before his death at 71.
Mukul Roy, former Railway Minister and founding Trinamool Congress leader, passed away at 71. | File image: IANS
Senior politician and former Railway Minister Mukul Roy died at 1:30 am on Sunday after suffering a cardiac arrest at Apollo Hospital in Salt Lake, Kolkata. He was 71. His son, Subhranshu Roy, confirmed the news.
Roy had been unwell for a long time and was being treated for several ailments, including kidney-related complications. His passing brings to a close a long political career that moved across parties and courtrooms, but remained rooted in Bengal’s politics.
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Subhranshu Roy said the family will take his father’s mortal remains to the West Bengal Assembly around 12 pm. The Speaker and other legislators are expected to pay their last respects. The body will later be taken to their residence in Kanchrapara.
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Soon after news of his death spread, Trinamool Congress leaders, workers and supporters began gathering outside his home.
Speaking about the last few months, Subhranshu Roy said, “Top TMC leaders communicated daily and kept a track of his health… No one from the BJP contacted me. Only Saumitra Khan came to see him once… I will make a request to everyone now that my father has passed away. But many patients will enter here now…”
A founding member of the Trinamool Congress when the party came into existence in January 1998, Roy rose from the ranks of the Youth Congress in Bengal to become one of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s closest political aides. Known as the ‘Chanakya of Bengal politics’, he was regarded as the party’s principal strategist, both in Kolkata and in Delhi, for years.
After helping build the Trinamool Congress alongside Banerjee, Roy was appointed the party’s general secretary and later emerged as its key representative in the national capital.
Elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2006, Roy served as the Trinamool Congress leader in the Upper House from 2009 to 2012. During the UPA II government, Roy first held the portfolio of Minister of State for Shipping. He was later appointed as Railway Minister in March 2012.
His political trajectory witnessed sharp turns in recent years. After quitting the Trinamool Congress and joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, he contested the 2021 Assembly elections from Krishnanagar North on a BJP ticket and won.
He later returned to the Trinamool Congress but did not resign from his MLA post, continuing on record as a BJP legislator. He was subsequently appointed chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
On November 13, 2025, the Calcutta High Court disqualified him as an MLA under the anti-defection law for defecting to the ruling Trinamool Congress after being elected on a BJP ticket in the 2021 elections. However, the Supreme Court stayed the verdict.
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