Former minister Tapan Sikdar dies at AIIMS at 70 - Times of India

KOLKATA: Former Union minister of state for telecom Tapan Sikdar who had won twice from Dum Dum seat died at AIIMS on Monday morning.

He was 70 and was a bachelor. He had kidney ailments and even he was dialysis for twice a week he contested the parliamentary polls of 2014 from Dum Dum.

He was the popular face of the BJP in Bengal, because he helped BJP to make its footing in Bengal amid the Left regime, when BJP men were often attacked by the ruling party cadres.

Sikdar was full of optimism and for that he decided to contest the polls in 2014, though he had a failing health. "He was optimistic about his win and he campaigned a lot during the polls, as he was much popular among the border district residents and refugees for whom he was a messiah," said Rahul Sinha, BJP state president.

During his tenure as a BJP state president he used to tour the districts and could reach out to the people in distress.

Tapan Sikdar was airlifted to AIIMS on Thursday as his condition deteriorated in Kolkata. He was a popular leader and even a MOS for telecom he was dynamic as he introduced several path breaking steps in mobile networking. He was known for his nature to help people and was a mass leader, BJP leaders said.

He was a minister in A B Vajpayee's government. People close to him felt that during the last two months poll campaign further worsened his health and for that he turned critical.

Sikdar was born in Jessore in Bangladesh and later his parents moved to Bengal after the partition.

BJP state leaders felt that when BJP was making a rapid progress in Bengal, at that time it was a great loss for the party as he could have helped much in the organization of state BJP.

Babul Supriya, singer and BJP MP from Asansol too expressed his condolence. Bikram Sarkar former MP also expressed his condolence and said that it was a great loss for the Bengal BJP, as he could have guided the party as it is gaining ground in Bengal now.

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