Chandan Mitra (C) ANI
Chandan Mitra, a former Rajya Sabha MP and journalist, died on Wednesday night, according to his son Kushan Mitra. “Since it is already out there; Dad passed away late last night. He had been suffering for a while,” Kushan Mitra tweeted on Thursday morning. Chandan Mitra was 66.
“Shri Chandan Mitra Ji will be remembered for his intellect and insights. He distinguished himself in the world of media as well as politics. Anguished by his demise. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti,” PM Modi tweeted.
Swapan Dasgupta, a Rajya Sabha MP, came to Twitter to express his grief over Chandan Mitra’s death, saying that he had lost his “closest friend.” Posting a photo from a school trip in 1972, Dasgupta wrote, “I lost my closest friend—editor of Pioneer & former MP Chandan Mitra—this morning. We were together as students of La Martiniere & went on to St Stephen’s & Oxford. We joined journalism at the same time & shared the excitement of Ayodhya & the saffron wave.”
Until June of this year, Chandan Mitra was the managing director of The Pioneer in Delhi. Chandan Mitra first entered politics in 2003, when he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. As a BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh, he was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2010. He joined the All India Trinamool Congress in 2018.
Chandan Mitra attended Calcutta’s La Martuinuere School and subsequently Delhi’s St Stephen’s. He continued his education at Oxford University after that.
As accolades to Chandan Mitra began to come in, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor warmly remembered his campaign manager for the St Stephen’s College Union Society election. “Deeply saddened by this news. Chandan was my campaign manager in my successful race to be President of the St Stephen’s College Union Society, served in my Cabinet and succeeded me. We remained in touch over the years, ironically till I returned to Delhi& politics separated us. RIP,” Tharoor tweeted.