West Bengal Congress chief Somen Mitra is survived by wife and son
Somen Mitra, Bengal's stalwart Congress leader and state unit chief since September 2018, died in the early hours today, leaving behind his wife and son and innumerable political followers. He was 78.
Just yesterday, the family quoted Mr Mitra - who was admitted to a hospital about two weeks ago with kidney and cardiac issues - as saying that he was much better, walking around in his hospital room and talking to supporters and family on the phone. But he suffered a cardiac arrest at 1:50 am.
He was called "Chhor Da" by all almost ever since the beginning of his public life as a Youth Congress leader in 1967. "Chhor Da" is Bengali for "youngest older brother", a term of endearment and salute coined by political supporters in the early days. It is an address that has stuck till the end.
"All my love and support to family and friends of Somen Mitra at this difficult time. We will remember him with love, fondness and respect," Congress MP Rahul Gandhi tweeted.
"No Indira, no Congress. That was the slogan Somen coined when the party split in 1969," recalled longtime associate and Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya. Congress leader DK Barooah coined the slogan "India is Indira and Indira is India" only in 1974.
"He was a hero for Congress workers who ensured that he won every election he fought, except 1977, from the Sealdah assembly constituency in Kolkata that he represented from 1971 to 2008," Mr Bhattacharya added.
In 2009, Somen Mitra won the Lok Sabha election from Diamond Harbour constituency, not on a Congress but a Trinamool Congress ticket. He quit the Congress in 2008 and formed his own party Pragatisheel Indira Congress, which merged in 2009 with Trinamool Congress.
But his experiment with the Trinamool Congress was brief. He quit in January 2014 after resigning as MP. His wife Shikha Mitra, who won the Sealdah assembly seat in the by-election in 2009 on a Trinamool Congress ticket, also quit the ruling party in the state.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had a stormy political relationship with Somen Mitra tweeted her condolences today. "Saddened to hear about the passing away of veteran leader, former MP and @INCWestBengal president Somen Mitra. My deepest condolences to his family, followers and well-wishers," she said.
Ever since he re-joined the Congress, Somen Mitra strongly advocated an alliance with the Left against the Trinamool Congress and the BJP in the state - a major turnaround for a Congress leader who had worked to win 82 of 294 seats in the Bengal assembly in 1996 - the biggest tally the opposition Congress had ever won in the then 20-year-long Left regime.
Biman Bose and Mohammed Salim also expressed condolences at Mr Mitra's death. His one-time Congress colleague Manas Bhuiyan, who is now a Trinamool Congress MP, recalls Somen Mitra was an organisational man. "He was always very well networked, even with political rivals and always available to party workers," Mr Bhuiyan said.
"A huge loss for the Congress in Bengal," said Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy, also a former Congress colleague of Mr Mitra. "I was not in touch with him lately but his death is a personal loss for me," Mr Roy said.