Former Railway Minister, TMC leader Mukul Roy passes away at 71

Mangalore Today News Network

Kolkata, Feb 23, 2026: Former railway minister Mukul Roy, a founding member of West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), died at a Kolkata hospital in the early hours of Monday. He was 71.

He was suffering from multiple ailments, including Parkinson’s disease, and had undergone three surgeries, said Subhranshu Roy, his son. He was admitted to the hospital for over two years and was in a coma, Subhranshu said.

Roy served as a Minister of State in the Shipping Ministry and later Ministry of Railways during the second UPA government led by Manmohan Singh.

On the demise of Roy, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dilip Ghosh described him as an experienced politician, saying that he had been ill for the past two-three years and could not actively participate in politics.

"He was an experienced politician. He became a Union Minister too. When he came to the BJP, he was given a lot of respect. From 2019-2021, he was with us. Later, he left the BJP and went to the TMC. For the last 2-3 years, he has been ill and could not actively participate in politics. I pray that his soul rests in peace...," Ghosh said, speaking to ANI.

Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari also condoled the demise of Roy and wrote on X, “Deeply disheartened to learn about the sad demise of Senior Politician; Shri Mukul Roy. My sincere condolences to his family. Praying that his soul attain eternal peace.”

Mukul Roy, who was elected as a BJP MLA in May 2021, allegedly joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in August 2021 after the assembly elections, in the presence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Before the creation of TMC, he was a member of the Congress.

Roy was fighting a legal battle over his disqualification from the membership of the State Legislative Assembly following his defection to the TMC.

The Supreme Court in January stayed an order of the Calcutta high court which had disqualified Roy from the state assembly.

During the hearing in the apex court, advocate Prateeka Dwivedi, appearing on behalf of petitioner Shubhranshu Roy - son of Mukul Roy - had submitted that the Speaker had rejected the disqualification petitions as the social media posts relied upon to prove defection were not authenticated under Section 65B of the Evidence Act.

She added that the high court reversed this finding by holding that strict compliance with Section 65B was unnecessary in proceedings under the Tenth Schedule.

Senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal, appearing for Suvendu Adhikari and Ambika Roy, contended that Mukul Roy had contested elections on a BJP ticket and later openly joined another party, Trinamool Congress, clearly inviting disqualification for defection.

The apex court, however, granted interim relief to Roy and stayed the high court’s order disqualifying him as an MLA.