Asok Bhattacharya places a wreath on the body at the CPM party office on Tuesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, Nov. 25: The mayor of Siliguri, Bikash Ghosh, died here this morning after a cardiac arrest on the day of his son’s marriage. He was 65 and is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.

Ghosh, who according to his family members, did not have any heart problems, suffered a “severe attack” a few minutes after the dodhi mangal (a marriage ritual held in the morning) ended at 6.10am.

“There was a sound of something heavy falling in the adjoining room which Baba had entered. I saw him lying face down on the floor. There was a cut on his forehead and he was bleeding. I shouted out and my husband and brother Biswaroop rushed to the room,” said Ghosh’s daughter Bratati. Neighbours helped them carry Ghosh’s limp body to the car. He was taken to a nursing home, half a kilometre away. He was declared dead — the certificate read “cardiac arrest due to severe heart attack” — at 7.30am.

On the advice of family members and friends, the mayor’s son Biswaroop and Piyali registered their marriage but the reception was called off.

Ghosh, a member of the district secretariat of the CPM, was born in Bangladesh in 1943. He came to Bengal in 1951.

At Nandaprasad High School, Ghosh had studied with Naxalite leaders like Souren Bose and Kanu Sanyal. He joined Tarai Tarapada Adarsha Vidyalaya as an assistant teacher in 1966. In 1967, he joined Siliguri College of Commerce as a lecturer. He retired in 2002.

During his school and college days, Ghosh was actively involved in sports. He was a die-hard East Bengal fan.

Ghosh was recognised as the best sports organiser in 1980 by the state government and sent to watch the Olympics in Moscow. He joined Siliguri Mahakuma Krira Parishad in 1976 as general secretary and was associated with it till his death.

In 1981, he was elected the commissioner of erstwhile Siliguri Municipality from the then Ward 7 (ward-16 now). Ten years later, he became the chairman of the municipality when Asok Bhattacharya vacated the post to become state urban development and municipal affairs minister for the first time. Siliguri municipality was upgraded to a corporation in 1994 and Ghosh was elected the first mayor. He had been elected for two terms and was in his third term.

The urban development minister, on hearing the news, cancelled all his appointments in Calcutta and arrived here around 1.30pm

Ghosh’s body was taken first in a procession first to his house, then to Ward 16, of which he was the councillor. It was also taken to the college and the school where he taught. Hundreds of people paid their respects when the body arrived at the office of the municipal corporation.

The procession then left for Kanchenjunga stadium. Ghosh was the chairman of the stadium committee. It was kept at the CPM party office, Anil Biswas Bhavan, before the final journey to the crematorium.