Former chief minister of West Bengal and veteran Congress leader Siddhartha Shankar Ray passed away at his Beltala residence in south Kolkata on Saturday evening. The former Union education minister was suffering from kidney-related ailments. He was 90 and is survived by his wife Maya Ray.
“Ray had been ill for quite a long time and was put on dialysis since March this year. At around 6.50 pm on Saturday, he breathed his last,” said M. Kaviraj, confidential assistant of Ray.
Ray was born in 1920 to barrister Sudhir Kumar and Aparna Ray, the elder daughter of nationalist leader and freedom fighter Chittaranjan Das. A barrister by profession, Ray became the West Bengal chief minister on March 19 in 1972 and ruled the state till June 21, 1977. He was known to be very close to late former chief minister and CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu.
Interestingly, the state government has decided not give Ray state funeral. “Ray will not be given the state funeral. But our senior officers from the police and other departments are at his residence. As a mark of respect, all the government offices will be closed on November 8 and the educational institutions have been requested for closure on the same day,” state chief secretary Samar Ghosh told this newspaper.
Veteran Congress leader and Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee condoled his death. Speaking to this newspaper, Mr Mukherjee hailed Ray as “an able and experienced administrator,” and termed his death as “an irreparable loss.”
He said, “Not only in the politics of Bengal, Ray was a great Parliamentarian in the entire political scenario of the country. He became the governor of Punjab at a critical time and also represented India as an ambassador to the US.”
Chief minister of West Bengal Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also condoled Ray’s death West Bengal governor M.K. Narayanan mourned his death terming him as “one of the most towering personalities of modern India.”
As the news of Ray’s death spread, leaders from different political hues rushed to his residence. Among them was Trinamul Congress chief and railway minister Mamata Banerjee. She said, “There is no alternative for him. He was a very much emotional person and had fought for the minorities.”
Recalling memories, Ms Banerjee said, “Manuda and me shared a very close bond. He used to advise me on different issues. I always used to keep in touch with him.”
Ray’s body will be kept at his residence from 11 am to 1.30 pm on Sunday for the public to pay their last respect. Later the body will be taken to West Bengal Assembly. In the afternoon, the body will be cremated at the Keoratala crematorium.