Academician turned politician Krishna Bose passed away on Saturday due to age-related ailments. The three-time Lok Sabha member and noted educationist died at a private hospital in Kolkata following a cardiac arrest on Saturday, family and hospital sources said.
Bose who hails from the family of freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s family died at the age of 89. He was married to Sisir Kumar Bose, the nephew of Subhas Chandra Bose. She is survived by her sons Sugata and Sumantra, and her daughter Sharmila.
A former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP from the Jadavpur constituency, Bose had been unwell for quite some time, family sources said. She died in a hospital off Kolkata's EM Bypass at 10.20 am.
On February 16, Bose had been diagnosed with an irregular heart beat problem, and hospitalised, but her condition worsened and she had a cerebral attack. "She suffered a second stroke a few days back and was admitted to the ICU," said her son Sumantra Bose.
Born in Dhaka (now in Bangladesh) in 1930 to constitutional studies specialist Charu Chandra Chaudhuri, Bose taught at the City College in Kolkata for around 40 years.
She was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1996 as a Congress candidate, then again in 1998 and 1999 as a Trinamool Congress candidate.
Erudite and articulate, Bose made a mark in parliament through her informative and insightful speeches and served between 1999 and 2004 as chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs which oversees the conduct of India's foreign policy.
One of her sons and Harvard University professor of history Sugata Bose was also an MP from 2014 to 2019.
She authored a number of books in English and Bengali including the much-acclaimed 'An Outsider in Politics', and regularly contributed articles to leading newspapers and periodicals.
Bose was also an accomplished classical musician.
Several Trinamool Congress leaders and state ministers are at the hospital.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted saying “I lost someone respected, loved and admired by me. Saddened and shocked to hear about the demise of Krishna Basu, ex-TMC MP and wife of freedom fighter Dr. Sisir Bose."
Mamata will be visiting Netaji Bhavan around 3:00pm, while West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar too will visit Netaji Bhavan.
Bose's body will be taken to her Sarat Bose Road residence around 1 pm and then to the Netaji Bhavan, according to family sources. She will be cremated in the evening.
(With inputs from Prema Rajaram and IANS)
