Former deputy speaker of West Bengal Assembly, Ashis Banerjee, was found hanging at a TMC party office in Birbhum district on Sunday morning, police sources said.
A purported suicide note was also recovered from the party office located near his residence in Hattala Para in Rampurhat, they said.
Police reached the spot and sent the body for post-mortem examination.
The exact circumstances leading to his death are yet to be ascertained, and police are examining the contents of the purported suicide note, the sources said.
Banerjee, a veteran TMC leader, had represented Rampurhat in the state Assembly continuously from 2001 till 2026. He had served as the deputy speaker of the Assembly and held ministerial portfolios, including school education and agriculture, in the Mamata Banerjee government.
He contested the 2026 Assembly elections from Rampurhat on a TMC ticket but lost to BJP’s Dhruva Saha by more than 24,000 votes.
After his electoral defeat, Banerjee was not seen to be particularly active in politics, party sources said.
Banerjee had been a prominent TMC leader in Birbhum during the tenure of party strongman Anubrata Mondal as the district president.
The development comes at a time when the political landscape in West Bengal has undergone a major change following the TMC’s defeat in the assembly polls this year ending its 15-year rule.
Several former TMC legislators and leaders facing corruption-related investigations and arrests.
Police are investigating whether Banerjee died by suicide and, if so, what prompted him to take the extreme step. The post-mortem report and the contents of the purported note are expected to shed more light on the circumstances surrounding his death.
