Somen Mitra
West Bengal Congress chief and veteran politician Somen Mitra passes away at 78
Kolkata/IBNS: West Bengal Congress president Somendra Nath Mitra, also known as Somen Mitra, passed away late last night, ending an era of politics in the state of West Bengal. He was 78.
Mitra, who was suffering from kidney issues, died of cardiac arrest at 1:50 am on Thursday. He had tested negative for Covid-19.
His mortal remains will be taken to Vidhan Sabha at 12:30 pm.
The last rites will be performed after Mitra's mortal remains were taken to his residences.
During his long political career, Mitra had remained the West Bengal MLA from 1972 to 1977 and 1982 to 2008.
In 2008, he had left the Congress and floated his own party named Pragatisheel Indira Congress but it was merged with Trinamool Congress (TMC), the then opposition party of West Bengal, a year later.
Mitra was elected as the Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal's Diamond Harbour constituency in 2009 as a TMC candidate.
In 2014, the veteran leader had resigned as the MP and rejoined the Congress.
Succeeding the current Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Mitra was appointed as the grand old party's state president on Sept 22, 2018.
Mourning his death, former Congress MP Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "All my love and support to family and friends of Somen Mitra at this difficult time. We will remember him with love, fondness and respect."
All my love and support to family and friends of Somen Mitra at this difficult time. We will remember him with love, fondness and respect. pic.twitter.com/k1muPvycgT
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 30, 2020
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a tweet, "Saddened to hear about the passing away of veteran leader, former MP and @INCWestBengal president Somen Mitra. My deepest condolences to his family, followers and well-wishers."
Saddened to hear about the passing away of veteran leader, former MP and @INCWestBengal president Somen Mitra. My deepest condolences to his family, followers and well-wishers.
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) July 30, 2020
Mourning Mitra's demise, CPI-M leader Md. Salim told India Blooms, "He was an experienced leader. I heard his name from the time I was doing student politics. It is the end of an era.....Lot of people from the present generation do not know that he had a tussle with Mamata Banerjee regarding Congress state unit president's post.
"Later, Mamata left Congress, floated her own party and went (formed an alliance) with the BJP. That had hurt the Congress as well as the state and BJP got the chance here.
"Mitra went to TMC as well but later he came back to his party with a realisation of his political acumen. He used to know the Congress workers really well and has remained a great organiser."
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president and Lok Sabha MP, Dilip Ghosh, said, "It is the end of an era. Somen Mitra used to carry the legacy of Bengal politics which is missing at the present moment. So it is a huge loss of West Bengal politics considering the present political culture in the state."
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