Former Union Railway Minister and politician Mukul Roy breathed his last at a private hospital in Kolkata’s Salt Lake on Monday (February 23) around 1.30 am. Mukul Roy was 71 years old at the time of hios. Former Trinamool Congress (TMC) senior leader Shuvrangshu’s son has confirmed the news of his father’s death, according to a report in Indian Express.
Mukul Roy served as the 32nd Union Minister of Railways. He held this post from 20 March 2012 to 21 September 2012 during the UPA-II government. He succeeded Dinesh Trivedi after the railway fare hike controversy.
Mukul Roy suffered from a series of serious neurological and systemic ailments that led to his retirement from active politics and ultimately his death on 23 February 2026.
Doctors confirmed in early 2023 that Roy was battling dementia and Parkinson’s disease, which severely affected his cognitive function, memory and physical stability.
In March 2023, he underwent brain surgery for hydrocephalus, a condition where cerebrospinal fluid builds up in the brain, causing increased pressure in the skull and potential brain damage.
In July 2024, he was hospitalized in critical condition after a fall at his residence that resulted in a head injury and subsequent surgery to remove a blood clot.
He also struggled with chronic diabetes, respiratory problems and high blood sugar, which contributed to his increasingly “deteriorating” health in recent years.
Mukul Roy was once the number two leader in the All India Trinamool Congress. He played a key role as a strategist in the party’s electoral victory in West Bengal in 2011.
He was expelled from the party in 2017 amid the Narada Sting scandal in which alleged payoffs were caught on video.
He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in November 2017 and later became its national vice-president in 2020. He managed the party’s campaigns in West Bengal but retired from electoral politics in 2021 due to health reasons.
He contested the 2021 elections as a BJP candidate and returned to the Trinamool Congress after the results were announced. However, he remained largely politically inactive after 2021.
(This is a developing story. Please check back for more updates)
