Ashis Banerjee, a senior Trinamool Congress leader and former deputy speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, was found dead on Sunday morning inside a party office right next to his home in Hattala Para, Rampurhat. Police arrived at the scene, recovered his body hanging inside the office, and sent it to the Rampurhat Medical College Hospital for a post-mortem examination. Officers also found a handwritten note at the site. In it, the 74-year-old veteran leader mentioned that nobody was responsible for his death and firmly rejected corruption charges raised against his public career, particularly pointing to his earlier tenure leading the Tarapith Rampurhat Development Authority.
News of his death sent shockwaves through Bengal's political landscape, bringing stunned party workers, local supporters, and senior leaders straight to the Rampurhat hospital. Banerjee had spent decades at the center of Birbhum politics, serving as a five-time legislator who held the Rampurhat assembly seat without interruption for twenty-five years between 2001 and 2026. Over his long career in the state government, he also served in key ministerial roles under Mamata Banerjee, handling important portfolios including school education, agriculture, and AYUSH.
The tragic incident follows a rough couple of months marked by electoral defeat and growing political isolation. In the recent 2026 assembly elections, Banerjee lost his stronghold in Rampurhat to BJP’s Dhruba Saha by more than 24,000 votes, a blow that coincided with his party's broader statewide setback. By June, he stepped down as chairman of the TMC’s Birbhum district core committee amid factional friction, standing alongside other unhappy local leaders while stating he would continue simply as a ground worker. Birbhum police have registered a case of unnatural death to establish the exact sequence of events, while forensic specialists verify the handwriting on the recovered note and look through his personal devices.