Sept. 4: Sultan Ahmed, the Trinamul Congress MP from Uluberia and president of Mohammedan Sporting Club, today died aged 64 following a "massive cardiac arrest" in his Ripon Street residence.
"Shocked and deeply saddened at the passing of Sultan Ahmed sitting @AITCOfficial LS MP and my long time colleague. Condolences to his family," tweeted party chief Mamata Banerjee.
Ahmed had been taken to a private hospital off Minto Park at 12.15pm and was declared dead on arrival. A spokesperson for the hospital said he suffered the attack around 45 minutes prior to being brought in. "He succumbed to the cardiac arrest without giving any chance to get him medical help at any nearby hospital."
According to the spokesperson, Ahmed, a former Union minister, had had a bypass heart surgery around 20 years ago.
Ahmed, an alumnus of Maulana Azad College, is survived by his wife and two sons. He had started his political career on the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road campus in the early 1970s as a member of the Congress's student wing. At the peak of his political career, he served as the Union minister of state for tourism in the first UPA government under Manmohan Singh.
Prior to joining Trinamul, Ahmed had been a Congress MLA from Entally. Till his death, he was the deputy leader of the Trinamul Parliamentary Party in the Lok Sabha and a member of the Muslim Personal Law Board.
In January 2016, he had played the pivotal role in bringing Pakistani ghazal exponent Ghulam Ali to Calcutta for a concert after his Mumbai show had to be cancelled because of threats from the Shiv Sena. As the then head of the West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation, Ahmed had organised an event attended by thousands at Netaji Indoor Stadium.
Speaking to Metro on January 11 last year, the night before the event, Ahmed had spoken about the need for efforts to unite and stand up to forces that seek to divide.
"Peace, harmony, respect, tolerance and love, we need them now more than ever to draw us closer, to unite, to resist and oppose attempts by sinister forces to divide," he had said. "Music, culture, art, sport, these go a long way in forging friendships and building relationships of the soul and must always be prioritised."
Ahmed was president of Mohammedan Sporting, with which he had been associated for more than two decades, since 2009. He had been the secretary of the club from 2001 till then.
During his tenure, Mohammedan Sporting won the Durand Cup in 2013 after 73 years. During the same season, the club also won the IFA Shield after 43 years.
Ahmed was not only the boss of the club but also its lifeline. He brought sponsors to tide over every financial crisis and regularly attended club matches on the Maidan, standing by the players through good and bad times.
He also took a keen interest in recruiting players and finalising the support staff.
"This is an irreparable damage for us," said Trinamul MLA Dipendu Biswas, a former footballer and the club's vice-president.
Ahmed and his brother Iqbal, a Trinamul MLA from Khanakul in Hooghly and deputy mayor of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, were among the dozen Trinamul leaders named in the Narada sting operation in 2016. He was interrogated this year by the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI.
Chief minister Mamata today alleged that Ahmed had been under "extreme stress" and accused the BJP-led Centre and its agencies of trying to defame him. "I got information that when his body was being taken, a CBI notice was served. There was some Narada case of Rs 1 to 1.5 lakh.... He was under extreme stress. It was not an age to die. We are extremely saddened," she said.
Ahmed's colleagues and rivals in politics described him as a mild-mannered and humble person who would go out of his way to help those who came to him for assistance. "He was a sound political mind and an exceptionally good human being. One of my closest friends," said Abdul Mannan, leader of the Opposition.
