Former Bengal Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee Found Dead at TMC Office

In the quiet of a Sunday morning in Birbhum, West Bengal, the body of Asish Banerjee — a 74-year-old scholar-turned-statesman who had served five unbroken terms in the state legislature and risen to the office of Deputy Speaker — was found at a Trinamool Congress party office near his home. A purported suicide note was recovered by police, casting a somber light over what appears to be a life undone, at least in part, by the sudden reversal of decades of political standing. His defeat earlier this year by a margin of 24,000 votes ended not merely a career but an identity built over a generatio