KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was not present at the funeral and last journey to crematorium of Subrata Mukherjee, her political mentor and senior most minister of her cabinet who passed away last night after suffering a cardiac arrest, on Friday.
She skipped the event saying she would not be able to tolerate the pain of seeing his body.
Mukherjee, 75, breathed his last at the SSKM Hospital. He underwent angioplasty early this week.
"I still can’t believe that he is no longer with us. He was such a dedicated party worker. It is a personal loss for me,’’ said Mamata.
Mukherjee’s body was taken to West Bengal Assembly where governor Jagdeep Dhankhar paid his homage.
From there, the body was taken to his Ballygunge residence and Ekdalia Evergreen club before keeping at Rabindra Sadan for the public to pay their last respects.
Mukherjee, who was also the former mayor of Kolkata, was the minister for panchayat affairs in the current cabinet.
The panchayat minister was given the gun salute at the Keoratola crematorium in the southern part of the city.
The state government declared seven-day mourning following the death of the ailing 75-year-old minister following a massive cardiac arrest at a state-run hospital on Thursday night.
Senior Trinamool Congress leaders Firhad Hakim and Arup Biswas, the Congress' Abdul Mannan and Pradip Bhattacharya, as well as Dilip Ghosh and Rahul Sinha of the BJP paid tributes to Mukherjee.
CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra and party spokesperson Sujan Chakraborty also paid their last respects to Mukherjee.
"I have grown up seeing Subrata-da. He was my childhood hero. There were numerous instances when I approached him for advice and he always guided me. I have lost my big brother," Hakim told PTI.
Ghosh, vice-president of the BJP, said, "His contribution to Bengal politics will never be forgotten. He was the 'Bhishma Pitamah' of Bengal politics. This is a big loss for all of us."
In his condolence message, industrialist Sanjiv Goenka said, "In Subrata Mukherjee, we have lost a very good and a very capable leader. At a personal level, I had known him for over 35 years. It's a very deep personal loss."
Thousands of admirers and supporters of the veteran politician assembled at Rabindra Sadan to pay homage to their beloved leader.
Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikary and other MLAs paid their last respect to Mukherjee at the assembly when Mukherjee's mortal remains were taken there.
The body was then taken to his Ballygunge residence and later to the 'Ekdalia Evergreen' club where he has been playing a pivotal role in organising one of the most popular Durga Pujas of the city.
Thousands of party workers and common people took out a procession from Ballygunge area and escorted the hearse to the crematorium.
Mukherjee, who was hospitalised on October 24 following breathing problems, underwent angioplasty and two stents were inserted inside his blocked arteries on November 1.
He died at 9.22 pm on Thursday.
(With PTI Inputs)