Kolkata: Haji Nurul Islam, a sitting Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MP from Basirhat seat, succumbed to illness on Wednesday afternoon at his residence.
The 61-year-old two-time MP had been suffering from liver cancer for a while now. He is survived by his wife, Rashida Begum, and their four children.
He was originally elected from Basirhat as a Trinamool Congress candidate in 2009. However, the party did not nominate him again in 2014 or 2019.
However, he was nominated again in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections.
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He won by a thumping margin of around 3.4 lakh votes, defeating Rekha Patra, the face of the Sandeshkhali movement and the BJP’s candidate. Later, Patra filed a petition at the Calcutta High Court challenging the results.
Islam was elected from the Haroa Assembly constituency as the party legislator in 2016 and 2021.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has issued a statement on her official X handle condoling the death of Islam.
“Sad to know of the demise of my valued colleague, our MP of Basirhat, Haji Sk. Nurul Islam. He was a dedicated social worker in a remote Sundarban area, and he worked hard for the uplift of poor people in a backward region. People of Basirhat will miss his leadership. I convey my condolences to his family, friends and colleagues,” the Chief Minister’s message read.
His close party associates said Islam was not in good health even when his name was announced as the party candidate from Basirhat this year.
“He had to be hospitalised a number of times since then, and he could not even participate in a full-fledged campaign because of his ailments,” said a close associate of the deceased Lok Sabha MP.
Besides Kolkata, he was also treated by cancer specialists in Delhi and Mumbai.
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–IANS
