The body of Ashish Banerjee, former Deputy Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and former state minister, has been found. Police sources said his body was found hanging Sunday morning at an office of his own party, the Trinamool Congress, in Birbhum district.
The party office is located in the Hattala Para area of Rampurhat, near Ashish’s home. Police sources said an alleged suicide note was also recovered from the scene.
Police arrived at the scene and sent the body for post-mortem examination. The circumstances of Ashish’s death have not yet been confirmed. Police are examining the contents of the alleged suicide note.
Ashish Banerjee, a senior Trinamool Congress leader, represented Rampurhat in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2026. He served as Deputy Speaker of the assembly and held ministerial responsibilities in Mamata Banerjee’s government, including in school education and agriculture, among other departments.
Ashish also contested the 2026 assembly election from Rampurhat but lost to BJP candidate Dhruba Saha by more than 24,000 votes.
Party sources said Ashish Banerjee had not been particularly active in politics following his election defeat.
Ashish Banerjee had been an influential Trinamool Congress leader in Birbhum during the tenure of party leader Anubrata Mondal as district president. His death comes at a time of major upheaval in West Bengal’s political landscape, following the Trinamool Congress’s defeat in this year’s assembly election, which ended the party’s 15-year rule. Several former lawmakers and leaders have faced corruption investigations and arrests.
Police are investigating whether Ashish Banerjee’s death was a suicide, and if so, what may have led him to such a decision.
In the alleged note, Ashish repeatedly maintained that he was not involved in any corruption. He wrote that although he could not accept wrongdoing within the party, he had never been able to speak out against it.
According to reports on the note’s contents, he described having been involved in politics since his student days, said he was never linked to any corruption, and recalled having served as general secretary of the Burdwan University students’ union. He wrote that while there had been political disagreements, there had been no personal enmity, and that he had never accepted payment for any work throughout his life.
He reportedly wrote that he held little real authority at the Tarapith-Rampurhat development authority, describing feeling sidelined and excluded from matters such as the tender committee, with his role limited mainly to attending meetings. He expressed bitterness over what he described as efforts to diminish him, and advised younger members of his family to stay out of politics and focus instead on their own work.
He also wrote about his years as a teacher, saying he never missed a class, took extra classes, and taught many students without charge, describing having received much affection in return. He did not write anything critical of any of his political colleagues.
The post-mortem report and the contents of the alleged suicide note remain under further examination.
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বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report