DIVYA DELHI : Kolkata | Monday: Veteran politician and former Railway Minister Mukul Roy passed away at the age of 71 following a cardiac arrest. He breathed his last at 1:30 a.m. at Apollo Hospital in Salt Lake, Kolkata. The news of his demise was confirmed by his son, Subhranshu Roy. Often described as the “Chanakya of Bengal politics,” Roy represented Krishnanagar Uttar in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and had a long and influential political career. He also served as the 32nd Railway Minister of India and was elected twice to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal. Roy was among the founding members of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) when the party was established in 1998. In 2017, after differences with the party leadership, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). During the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, he won the Krishnanagar Uttar seat on a BJP ticket but later returned to the Trinamool Congress. Earlier, in 2011, he served as Railway Minister in the UPA-2 government when the Trinamool Congress was part of the ruling coalition at the Centre.
