Former West Bengal deputy speaker Asish Banerjee found dead inside Trinamool office

Trinamool Congress leader and former West Bengal Assembly Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee was found hanging inside a party office in the state's Birbhum district on Sunday. He was an ex-minister and also a five-time MLA from Rampurhat, having represented the constituency for 25 consecutive years from 2001 to 2026. Banerjee, however, lost the seat to Bharatiya Janata Party's Dhruba Saha in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls.His body was recovered from a TMC office adjacent to his Rampurhat residence. This came a day after the former TMC MLA participated in a local Independence Day celebration and hoisted the Tricolour there.

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A purported suicide note has also been recovered. In the note, Banerjee vehemently denied any wrongdoing, stating he was never involved in corruption throughout his political career. He apparently referred to supposed allegations of wrongdoings related to the Tarapith Rampurhat Development Authority (TRDA), where he had served as the chairperson. "A suicide note has been found, in which the deceased mentioned that 'no one is responsible for my death'," a police official said.

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The exact circumstances leading to his death were not immediately clear. Police have launched an investigation and the body has been sent for postmortem. Following the news, TMC workers gathered outside the party office and at Banerjee's residence in Rampurhat. Banerjee had stepped down as chairman of the TMC's Birbhum district core committee in June, weeks after the Mamata Banerjee-led party suffered defeat in the assembly elections. He also lost his Rampurhat seat in the polls. Banerjee had earlier served as the Deputy Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly before the TMC lost the polls. Banerjee was a professor at Rampurhat College and served as an MLA for five terms. He earlier served as a minister and held several portfolios including AYUSH and Agriculture. He was defeated by the BJP's Dhruba Saha in this year's assembly elections. Following ews of Banerjee's death today, Bolpur MP Asit Kumar Mal and Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam visited Rampurhat Medical College Hospital.