Former deputy speaker of the West Bengal Assembly and veteran Trinamool Congress leader Ashis Banerjee was found hanging at a TMC party office in Birbhum district on Sunday morning, police sources told PTI.
The officials also recovered a purported suicide note from the party office near his residence at Hattala Para in Rampurhat.
Police reached the spot and sent Banerjee's body for post-mortem examination. The circumstances surrounding his death have not yet been established, while police are examining the contents of the purported note, the sources said.
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Banerjee represented Rampurhat in the state Assembly continuously from 2001 until 2026. He served as deputy speaker 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. Party sources said Banerjee was not particularly active in politics after the electoral defeat.
He had been a prominent TMC leader in Birbhum during the tenure of party strongman Anubrata Mondal as the district president.
His death comes as West Bengal's political landscape has undergone a major shift following the TMC's defeat in this year's Assembly elections, which ended its 15-year rule. Several former TMC legislators and leaders are facing corruption-related investigations and arrests.
Police are investigating whether Banerjee died by suicide and, if so, what led him to take the step. The post-mortem report and the contents of the purported note are expected to provide further details about the circumstances of his death, the sources said.
