Asish Banerjee, the former deputy speaker of the West Bengal assembly, was found dead this morning at a Trinamool Congress's office next to his house in Birbhum district's Rampurhat city.
Banerjee was a close aide of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. His body was found hanging at the TMC office, and has been sent for postmortem, according to the police.
Asish Banerjee was a five-time MLA from Rampurhat, and eventually lost the seat to BJP's Dhruba Saha in the state election earlier this year.
He resided in the Hattalapara neighbourhood in Rampurhat. A large crowd had assembled outside the party office when they heard his body had been found, as per NDTV reports.
Asish Banerjee had served as Bengal education and agriculture minister since Mamata Banerjee came to power for the first time many years ago.
After his electoral defeat, Banerjee was not seen to be particularly active in politics, party sources said told PTI.
Banerjee had been a prominent TMC leader in Birbhum during the tenure of party strongman Anubrata Mondal as the district president.
The development comes at a time when the political landscape in West Bengal went through a complete overhaul following the TMC's defeat in the assembly polls this year ending its 15-year bastion.
Several former TMC legislators and leaders facing corruption-related investigations and arrests.
Police are investigating whether Banerjee died by suicide and, if so, what prompted him to take the extreme step. The post-mortem report and the contents of the purported note are expected to shed more light on the circumstances surrounding his death.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
