Kolkata, August 6: Senior CPI(M) leader Shyamal Chakraborty died of COVID-19 at a hospital in Kolkata on Thursday, party sources said. He was 76.  Chakraborty, the three-time transport minister of West Bengal from 1982 to 1996, was admitted to the hospital after he tested positive for COVID-19 on July 30. He was also a two-time Rajya Sabha member and a veteran trade unionist. Somen Mitra, West Bengal Congress President, Dies at 78 Due to Cardiac Arrest.

"He died this afternoon. He was on ventilation for the last few days," a party leader said. He is survived by daughter Ushasi Chakraborty, an actor. Chakraborty is the second notable politician from the state to die of COVID-19. Trinamool Congress MLA Tamonash Ghosh succumbed to the contagion in June. On Wednesday, Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation councillor Subhash Bose also died of COVID-19.