West Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra passes away

West Bengal Pradesh Congress President Somen Mitra passed away late on Wednesday night. The 78-year-old veteran politician was admitted at a private nursing home in Kolkata and was suffering from higher levels of creatine. He was hospitalised for replacement of pacemaker.

According to sources in the nursing home, Mitra’s condition started to improve on Tuesday and even on Wednesday evening he was walking inside the premises. He died of a heart attack late Wednesday night.

“WBPCC President Somen Mitra has breathed his last, a short while ago. As we struggle to come to terms with this immense loss, all our prayers and thoughts are with Dada’s family. May his soul rest in peace Folded hands,” West Bengal Congress stated in a tweet.

Mitra was elected as an MLA for seven times from the erstwhile Sealdah Assembly constituency. He left Congress in 2008 and floated a new political party called the Pragatisheel Indira Congress. Then he joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and was elected as an MP from the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha Constituency in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Mitra returned to Congress prior to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Mitra resigned from the post of West Bengal Pradesh Congress President in 1998, taking responsibility for the party’s poor performance in elections. He was again made the state Congress president in September 2018.

“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,” Rahul Gandhi stated in a tweet.