Former Railway Minister Mukul Roy died in Kolkata in the early hours of Monday, his son confirmed to news agency ANI. Roy was 71. He went into cardiac arrest and died around 1:30 a.m. at Apollo Hospital in Salt Lake City, his son Shuvrangshu Roy said.
Once considered one of the most influential strategists in the All India Trinamool Congress, Roy’s political journey has spanned decades of shifting loyalties, high offices and legal battles.
Rise in Trinamool Congress
Mukul Roy, a close aide of Mamata Banerjee, was considered the second most powerful leader in the party during its formative years. As a key organizational strategist, he played a crucial role in the Trinamool Congress’ historic victory in the 2011 Assembly elections that ended 34 years of Left Front rule in West Bengal.
In 2012, he briefly served as Railway Minister in the UPA-II government, led by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He took over from Dinesh Trivedi after a controversy over rising railway fares. His term lasted from March to September of that year.
But his influence within the Trinamool Congress declined after the controversy over the Narada sting operation. He was expelled from the party in 2017.
Switch to BJP and back
After some time, Mukul Roy joined the BJP and rose to become the party’s national vice president in 2020.
He was instrumental in shaping the BJP’s West Bengal campaign strategy and contested the 2021 Assembly elections as a BJP candidate.
Following the election results, Roy returned to the Trinamool Congress in August 2021 in the presence of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee. But his return led to disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law.
In January this year, India’s Supreme Court stayed an order by the Calcutta High Court disqualifying him from mutual legal assistance.
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant observed that electronic evidence alleging defection requires proper scrutiny and cannot be admitted merely by “preponderance of probability”.
Health struggles and recent years
In recent years, Mukul Roy has largely withdrawn from active politics due to deteriorating health. Doctors confirmed in early 2023 that he was suffering from dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
In March 2023, he underwent brain surgery for hydrocephalus. His condition worsened in July 2024 after a fall at his home resulted in a head injury and surgery to remove a blood clot.
He also suffered from chronic diabetes, shortness of breath and persistently high blood sugar levels, and his companions described his health as increasingly fragile.
