Ujjal Biswas

In September 2026 Biswas was diagnosed with triple vessel coronary blockage, and he underwent bypass surgery at Fortis Hospital in Mukundapur, Kolkata, on 5 October. He suffered a stroke on the day of the operation. Discharged after about two weeks, he fell seriously ill again during Durga Puja and was readmitted, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. His lung function declined, doctors performed a tracheostomy to help him breathe, and failing kidneys required regular dialysis. He later developed septic shock and spent his final days on full ventilator support.

He died of multiple organ failure at about 8.35 pm on Wednesday 11 November 2026, aged 72. Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra had visited him in hospital during his illness.

Ujjal Biswas was born on 17 June 1954 and grew up in Nadia district, West Bengal. He belonged to a Mahishya family with a celebrated record in the movement against British rule. Digambar Biswas, who led indigo farmers in the Indigo revolt against European planters in the nineteenth century, was from the family, as were the Anushilan Samiti revolutionary Basanta Kumar Biswas and the independence activist Manmathanath Biswas. That heritage was often cited as the backdrop to his own entry into public life in Nadia.

Biswas was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Krishnanagar Dakshin in 2011, the election in which the Trinamool Congress ended 34 years of Left Front rule. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inducted him into her first cabinet as minister for technical education and training.

He was re-elected in 2016 but left out of the new cabinet, returning about a year later as minister for correctional administration, a portfolio he held until 2022. He was then given charge of the Science, Technology and Bio-Technology department, which he led until the Trinamool government left office in 2026. He won Krishnanagar Dakshin for a third time in 2021.

In the 2026 Assembly election he was defeated by the BJP candidate Sadhan Ghosh. He remained with the Trinamool Congress afterwards, even as several party figures changed sides following the change of government.

Biswas lived at Kathuria Para in Krishnanagar and remained closely identified with Nadia throughout his career. He was survived by his wife and son, according to PTI.

After his 2026 election defeat, a large quantity of government relief material, including tarpaulins, was recovered from his Krishnanagar residence, and he was arrested amid protests outside his home. His family said the items were part of his official quota for flood relief distribution. He spent 30 days in custody in that case and was later held for 49 days in a separate case before being released on conditional bail. Trinamool leaders including Kunal Ghosh said the events had placed him under severe physical and mental strain.

Biswas is remembered as a grassroots organiser from Nadia who rose to ministerial rank and served across three departments during the Trinamool Congress's fifteen years in government. Colleagues described him as a steadfast loyalist of Mamata Banerjee. His career ended under the cloud of the relief materials case, and his final months illustrated the bitter political climate in West Bengal after the 2026 change of government.