TMC MP Sultan Ahmed passes away, Mamata expresses condolences

According to reports, the senior TMC lawmaker suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at around 11:25 am. at his Kolkata residence and he was rushed to Belle Vue Clinic in south part of the city, where Sultan Ahmed was pronounced dead at 12:15 pm.

Trinamool supremo and state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her condolence on micro-blogging site Twitter.

"Shocked and deeply saddened at the passing of Sultan Ahmed sitting @AITCOfficial LS MP & my long term colleague. Condolences to his family," Banerjee posted on her official Twitter handle.

Sultan Ahmed was born on June 5 in 1953 in Kolkata's Ripon Street area and he completed his graduation from city's Maulana Azad College.

During his college days, he had started his political career after joining Congress's student wing Chhatra Parishad (CP) and later he joined its youth wing, Yuva Congress.

He was selected as the Kolkata district secretary of Yuva Congress from 1978 to 1980.

Sultan Ahmed became a lawmaker (MLA) for the first time in 1987 after he won West Bengal assembly election from Entally Vidhan Sabha constituency and he was reelected in 1996 election from the same centre.

Ahmed was the founder-member of Trinamool Congress.

He was the Union Minister of State for Tourism in the Manmohan Singh government from 2009 to 2012.

Meanwhile, Ahmed was the working president of Kolkata's one of the oldest and leading football clubs, Mohammedan Sporting Club.

Sultan Ahmed was one of the 12 TMC leaders accused in the Narada sting operation as he was seen accepting money from Mathew Samuel in the sting footage.

Ahmed was interrogated earlier by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the case.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha, Image from Sultan Ahmed's official Twitter account)