Former Bengal minister Ujjal Biswas dies at 72 after weeks on ventilator; Mamata Banerjee blames BJP for his 49 days in custody

Ujjal Biswas, the Trinamool Congress leader who represented Krishnanagar Dakshin in the West Bengal Assembly for 15 years and served as a minister in the party’s government, died in Kolkata on Wednesday night at the age of 72.

TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh said Biswas died at around 9 pm on November 11, 2026. “Just came to know that Ujjal Biswas passed away this evening around 9 pm,” he said. Biswas was being treated at a private hospital in the city, reported to be Fortis in Mukundapur. He is survived by his wife and son. His mortal remains were brought to his residence in Krishnanagar, in Nadia district, where family members paid their last respects; the reports do not give a date for the last rites. A son had died in 2012. His uncle was the freedom fighter Basanta Kumar Biswas.

Three weeks in hospital

Biswas had been in hospital for nearly three weeks. He first had bypass surgery, after which he suffered a brain stroke and then a run of further complications, according to reports. Pneumonia, a urinary tract infection and septic shock followed, and his kidneys failed badly enough that he was put on dialysis. He died of multiple organ failure. For the last several days he was on full ventilator support. On Tuesday, doctors described his condition as very critical, with medical updates warning of multiple organ failure.

His political career

Born in Krishnanagar in Nadia district on June 17, 1954, Biswas was first elected to the Assembly from Krishnanagar Dakshin in 2011 and won the seat again in 2016 and 2021, making him a three-time MLA. He held it until May 4, 2026. He lost it in this year’s election to Sadhan Ghosh of the BJP. As a cabinet minister in the TMC government he held the correctional administration portfolio and, from August 3, 2022, the science, technology and biotechnology department, which he held until May 4.

The arrest

His last months were overshadowed by a case. In early June, local residents and BJP supporters confronted him at his office and residence in Krishnanagar. Local BJP leaders accused him of illegally storing government flood-relief items, including tarpaulins and clothes, at the house. His family said the materials were part of his quota as a minister, meant for distribution.

A crowd entered the premises shouting “thief, thief”, abused him and threw eggs at him. Kotwali police stepped in, took him to the police station, questioned him for about an hour and then arrested him on a charge of misappropriating the relief material. Biswas denied the charge. He was released on bail in July. The reports do not say what stage the case had reached.

Family and party members said the legal and political troubles of those months also took a heavy toll on his health, though no medical report links the two.

Mamata Banerjee’s tribute

TMC chief Mamata Banerjee announced his death on social media. She said she was deeply heartbroken and called Biswas “far more than a colleague in public life”. “His passing is a deeply personal loss and leaves a void that cannot be filled,” she said, adding that he had “devoted his life to the party and, above all, to the service of the people.”

She also used the moment to attack the BJP. Banerjee said Biswas had been attacked a few months ago and kept behind bars for 49 days, implicated in false cases, and described this as part of “the politics of vengeance, intimidation and persecution that the BJP has unleashed in Bengal.” These are her allegations; the BJP has not responded in the reports available.

What happens next

No report gives funeral arrangements. The seat he held is now with the BJP, and his death removes one of the TMC’s best-known faces in Nadia district. We will update this report with the funeral details.