Subrata Mukherjee was Mamata's mentor and administrator who made TMC popular

During the last Lok Sabha election, this correspondent was travelling with Trinamool Congress leader and minister Subrata Mukherjee in Bankura. This correspondent found Subrata, who died on Thursday, to be somewhat distressed.

He was speaking with someone over the phone and discussing how just a few voters in few booths could help him win against BJP candidate Dr. Subhash Sarkar, who is currently junior education minister in the Narendra Modi government. No one in the TMC then could have doubted that Subrata Mukherjee could be defeated. But Subrata had a premonition.

As this correspondent asked him about the result of that election, Subrata said, "Look if work will be the yardstick, then I am surely going to win. But if religion is prominent and everything else takes a back seat, I don't know."

A seasoned politician, who was groomed by Congress veteran Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, Subrata Mukerjee's fears came true. He was defeated by a margin of over 1 lakh votes by Sarkar.

The question that rankled then was why would TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee want to sacrifice an experienced administrator like Subrata Mukherjee by asking him to stand in the Lok Sabha election?

Subrata told me that Mamata might have some plans for him in national politics if there was a coalition government in New Delhi after the 2019 election.

A staunch admirer of Jyoti Basu and Bidhan Chandra Roy, Subrata Mukherjee said he wanted to follow the path of the two greatest Bengali politicians.

"I have seen both of them working. And both Dr Roy and Jyoti Babu were the greatest. I wanted to become like them. Like Basu, if Dr Roy went to Delhi, he would become a prime minister had he been alive after Nehru's death," Subrata said.

As an administrator, Subrata was considered second to none. He was the youngest minister in West Bengal when he handled six portfolios in the Sidhartha Shankar Ray ministry in the 1970s at the age of 26.

Mamata Banerjee's massive rural support base would not have been possible without the tremendous work done by Subrata Mukherjee who held portfolios of panchayat, rural development and public health engineering.

Subrata was also regarded as one of the best mayors in Kolkata in the history of the city's municipality. Building roads, bringing water and making houses for the poor were his passion as minister. However, corruption by TMC workers in taking 'cut money' jeopardised his efforts. But Subrata had his own mind. He continued to work tirelessly and never allowed intervention, not even by Mamata. This, perhaps, resulted in him being confined to two departments for the last 10 years. Subrata told this correspondent he wanted to get the urban development department as he wanted to build more cities in West Bengal. But he did not receive that.

Like his mentor Dasmunshi, Subrata had the habit of grooming politicians. Most of the current leaders in the TMC were all groomed by either Dasmunshi or Subrata. And the most prominent of the young leaders was Mamata Banerjee, now a three-time chief minister. It was Subrata Mukherjee who tirelessly groomed Mamata Banerjee when she was a student in Jogomaya Devi College. He introduced her to national politicians of the Congress.

Many insiders told this correspondent that Subrata Mukherjee was the only person to disagree with Mamata in cabinet meetings. Mamata Banerjee often did not like this, but Subrata never stopped doing so. However, he had no qualms in accepting Mamata as chief minister and working under her.

Once this correspondent asked him about his relationship with Mamata. He replied sharply, "Look, it is true that I introduced her in Bengal politics. But she moved ahead of all of us because of her fight against CPI(M). She used to hate CPI(M) as she was tortured by CPI(M) cadres during college days. I have to accept that she is more popular than me. So where is the harm accepting her as my leader?"

During the AICC session in Kolkata in 1980, Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh Kamalapathi Tripathy refused to have food being cooked by non-Brahmins. Indira Gandhi called Subrata and sought a Brahmin girl who could exclusively cook for Tripathy. Gandhi asked Subrata to do something as otherwise the elderly Tripathy would remain hungry. Subrata then introduced Mamata to Gandhi.

The delicious food cooked by Mamata made both Tripathy and Indira Gandhi happy. Subrata Mukherjee introduced Mamata as a street fighter of the Congress.

In her autobiography, published by Roli Books, Mamata Banerjee expressed anguish that she had to cook for Tripathy just to address the casteist nature of a politician. But it opened a door for her. The rest is history.

With Subrata's passing, Mamata has not only lost her mentor but an administrator whose void is difficult to fill. Who could deliver like Subrata Mukherjee is a question that will worry the TMC.

The most tragic phase of Subrata Mukherjee's life was his arrest by the CBI in the Narada case. It was his arrest that prompted Mamata Banerjee to rush to the CBI office and stage a dharna demanding the release of her political guru.

Subrata da, as this correspondent used to call him, could never take bribe. When a sting operation video was aired in 2016, even CPI(M) secretary Surya Kanta Mishra expressed shock.

"Subrata babu! I can't believe my eyes," Mishra had said.

A leader close to Subrata Mukherjee later told this correspondent that Subrata accepted the money at the behest of a TMC leader. He refused to say who that leader is. Perhaps that would remain unknown forever after Subrata Mukherjee's body is consigned to flames.