Parash Dutta

Parash Dutta died at about 9.20 pm on Friday 6 November 2026 at his residence in Lake Gardens, Kolkata, aged 78. His family said he had been unwell for a long time with age related ailments; no specific medical cause was announced. The family said his cremation would take place at Keoratala crematorium on the morning of Saturday 7 November. The Times of India, Anandabazar Patrika and Bartaman all reported his death, and politicians in Bengal offered condolences.

Parash Dutta was born in 1948 in Jagatdal, in what is now the Barrackpore subdivision of North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal. He was the son of the late Santosh Kumar Dutta. According to his election affidavit, he completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1971 at a college affiliated with the University of Calcutta. His exact date of birth has not been published in the sources available.

Dutta started out in the Bharatiya Janata Party and later left it after disagreements to join the All India Trinamool Congress. He was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Behala Purba (Behala East) in 2001, defeating Kumkum Chakraborti of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) at his first attempt.

In 2004 the Trinamool expelled him following internal differences. He joined the Indian National Congress and contested Behala Purba for the Congress in the 2006 Assembly election, finishing third. In 2007, during the Singur and Nandigram land acquisition movements, he returned to the Trinamool.

In the 2011 election, which brought Mamata Banerjee to power, he moved to Jagatdal and won with 86,388 votes, a margin of 36,032 over Haripada Biswas of the All India Forward Bloc. He was re-elected from Jagatdal in 2016, again beating Biswas, by 27,045 votes. In the Assembly he was regarded as an experienced legislator and a good speaker.

In September 2020 he announced he would not contest the 2021 election, alleging anti party activity by Trinamool members in his constituency. The party did not nominate him in 2021, and he stayed out of public life from then on.

Dutta lived for many years at Lake Gardens in south Kolkata while keeping his roots in Jagatdal. Bengali newspapers described a long and close personal relationship with Mamata Banerjee, whom he stayed with after the Trinamool came to power. Public reports at his death did not give details of his wife or children, and they are not stated here.

Dutta is remembered as one of the Trinamool's early legislators, winning Behala Purba in 2001 when the party was still in opposition and then holding Jagatdal through the 2011 change of government and the 2016 election. His move from the BJP to the Trinamool, his expulsion and spell in the Congress, and his return during the Singur and Nandigram agitation follow the turbulent course of Bengal politics in those years. Colleagues recalled his parliamentary experience and his speeches in the Assembly.