Bengal: TMC leader and ex-deputy speaker Asish Banerjee found dead

West Bengal’s former deputy speaker and Trinamool Congress leader Asish Banerjee was found dead inside the party office near his home in Birbhum district on Sunday morning.

Nilanjan Das, a TMC spokesperson, posted on social media a note written in Bengali that was purportedly recovered near Asish Banerjee’s body. It said that false allegations of corruption had been made against him.

“Primarily it is a suicide case,” Birbhum Superintendent of Police Vidit Raj Bhundesh told The Indian Express. He added that the note also stated: “No one is responsible for my death.”

The body has been sent for post-mortem.

Sad. Shocking.
Dr Ashish Banerjee, 5 time AITC MLA, Ex Minister & Deputy Speaker has committed suicide.
“I had nothing to do with corruption and yet all these completely false allegations to malign me…” pic.twitter.com/gwBGpFMHOQ— Nilanjan Das (@NilanjanDasAITC) August 16, 2026

Asish Banerjee served as the deputy speaker of the West Bengal Assembly during Mamata Banerjee’s tenure as the chief minister. A five-term MLA from Rampurhat, he was defeated by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Dhruba Saha in the 2026 Assembly elections.

A relative of Asish Banerjee told The Indian Express that the note recovered near his body stated that he “never took a single penny in exchange for any work in my entire life”.

“Although I could not accept all of the party’s wrongdoings throughout my...

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