By IANS
Kolkata : Former West Bengal minister and Kolkata mayor Prasanta Sur died at a city hospital here early Friday after protracted illness. He was 85.
A Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader, he was admitted to SSKM Hospital Monday after his blood sugar level dropped sharply.
Sur, who was CPI-M state committee member, was the state urban development minister in the first Left Front government in 1977.
He took charge of the health and refugee and rehabilitation departments in the subsequent Left Front governments.
He was also the convenor of the Kolkata district Left Front committee and became the first communist mayor of the city in 1967. He is survived by a son.
Former chief minister Jyoti Basu, Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee and CPI-M state secretary Biman Bose condoled Sur’s death.