TMC MLA Samaresh Das dies after testing positive for COVID-19

He was 76. The three-time MLA from Egra assembly constituency in East Midnapore district of West Bengal was admitted to a hospital there a few days back after he had tested positive for coronavirus and developed other health complications, the party sources said.

Trinamool Congress MLA Samaresh Das, who had tested positive for COVID-19 recently, died at a hospital here on Monday, party sources said. He was 76.

The three-time MLA from Egra assembly constituency in East Midnapore district of West Bengal was admitted to a hospital there a few days back after he had tested positive for coronavirus and developed other health complications, the party sources said. Later, he was shifted to a hospital in Kolkata after his condition deteriorated, they said.

Das died this morning at the city hospital, a senior party leader said. Earlier, the TMC leader said the MLA breathed his last at the district hospital.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee condoled his death in a message. She said his demise has left a void in the state politics.

Das, a senior leader of the TMC in the district, was elected as an MLA for the first time from Egra assembly constituency in 2009 during a by-election. He retained the seat during the 2011 and 2016 assembly polls.

Before joining the TMC in 2008, he was a CPI(M) leader in the district. Earlier this year, Das was issued a show cause notice by the TMC for sharing a dais with state BJP president Dilip Ghosh at a function in the district.

Das is the third notable politician from the state, who died after testing positive for COVID-19. Trinamool Congress MLA Tamonash Ghosh succumbed to the contagion in June. Senior CPI(M) leader and former MP Shyamal Chakraborty also died of the coronavirus infection earlier this month.

TMC's Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation councillor Subhash Bose succumbed to the infection this month. The administrator of the board of Panihati Municipality Swapan Ghosh died due to the disease last week at a private hospital.