Trinamool Congress leader and former West Bengal Assembly Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee was found hanging inside a party office in the state's Birbhum district on Sunday morning.

He was an ex-minister and also a five-time MLA from Rampurhat, having represented the constituency for 25 consecutive years from 2001 to 2026. Banerjee, however, lost the seat to Bharatiya Janata Party's Dhruba Saha in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls.

His body was recovered from a TMC office adjacent to his Rampurhat residence. This came a day after the former TMC MLA participated in a local Independence Day celebration and hoisted the Tricolour there.

A purported suicide note, originally written in Bengali, has also been recovered. In the purported letter, Banerjee claimed innocence, stating he was never involved in corruption or misrepresentation throughout his political career.

He apparently referred to supposed allegations of wrongdoings and fraud related to the Tarapith Rampurhat Development Authority (TRDA), where he had served as the chairperson.

Banerjee claimed that he had no role in the civic planning and development agency's tender-related decisions, cheque issuance, plan approvals or no-objection certificates. He alleged that attempts had been made to "malign" him, and said he felt that entering politics had been a mistake.

The veteran TMC leader also wrote that although he could not always accept "wrongdoings" within the party, he had been unable to protest against them.

At the bottom of the note, he purportedly said that no one was responsible for his death. After his electoral defeat, Banerjee was not seen to be particularly active in politics, party sources, cited by news agency PTI, said.

His death comes months after the TMC lost power in West Bengal following its 15-year rule, with the BJP forming the government after the 2026 Assembly polls.

The change in political fortunes has also seen several former TMC leaders and legislators face corruption-related investigations and arrests.

The exact circumstances leading to Banerjee's death were not immediately clear. Police are investigating whether he died by suicide and, if so, what prompted him to take the extreme step. The body has been sent for postmortem.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/asish-banerjee-found-dead-trinamool-congress-leader-hanging-party-office-birbhum-2972256-2026-08-16

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