Former West Bengal Assembly Deputy Speaker and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Ashis Banerjee was found dead at a party office near his residence in Rampurhat, Birbhum, on Sunday morning, police said.
A purported note was recovered from the TMC office, and Banerjee’s body was sent for post-mortem examination. Police said the circumstances surrounding his death are being investigated.
TMC spokesperson Nilanjan Das described Banerjee’s death as shocking and shared an image of the purported note on X. According to the party, the note contained allegations that Banerjee had been falsely implicated in corruption cases. The contents and authenticity of the note have not been independently verified.
Banerjee had stepped down as chairman of the TMC’s Birbhum district core committee in June, weeks after the party suffered a major setback in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.
He also lost the Rampurhat Assembly seat in the 2026 polls after representing the constituency continuously since 2001. Banerjee was a five-time MLA and had served as deputy speaker of the West Bengal Assembly.
During his political career, he also held ministerial portfolios, including school education and agriculture, in the Mamata Banerjee government.
In the 2026 Assembly election, Banerjee contested from Rampurhat on a TMC ticket but lost to BJP candidate Dhruva Saha by more than 24,000 votes.
Police are continuing their investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.
