Abdur Razzak Molla, a member of the Jyoti Basu, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Mamata Banerjee cabinets, breathed his last at his ancestral residence in South 24-Parganas on Friday.

The 80-year-old was suffering from various geriatric ailments and died at home in Bankri near Bhangar.

Molla, a colourful and rustic character in Bengal’s public life for decades, was widely recognised for his wit and candour, besides his proximity to the grassroots in a politically turbulent district.

Molla, who took pride in his humble, rural background and boasted of being a “chasha’r byata (the son of a farmer)” all his life, had joined the communist movement in college.

He had been a member of the Bengal Assembly from 1972 to 2021. After being the MLA for 10 consecutive terms, Molla didn’t contest the Assembly elections in 2021 because of debilitating health. He had been a Bengal minister for around 35 years.

While serving as land and land reforms minister under Bhattacharjee, the outspoken Molla had set the cat among the pigeons by his public criticism of the then chief minister and then industry minister Nirupam Sen over the acquisition of land for private industry in Singur and Nandigram.

On the day of the 2011 Assembly election results, Molla had famously said of the Bhattacharjee government’s pro-industrialisation thrust: “Heley dhorti parey na, keutey dhorti zaay (Those who cannot even catch a harmless grass snake, attempted catching a lethal cobra)!”

The food-processing minister in the second term of the Trinamool Congress-led government, Molla remained in Mamata’s Trinamool Congress till his demise, after his five-decade association with the CPM ended with his expulsion over “anti-party activities” in 2014. The Bharatiya Naybichar Party he had co-founded thereafter also expelled him in 2016 for establishing ties with Mamata.

The chief minister condoled his death.

“I am saddened and shocked by the passing of my colleague, Abdur Razzak Molla. He was my colleague in the state cabinet. I respected and honoured him,” wrote Mamata in a post on X.

“His knowledge and experience in Bengal’s rural life, agricultural economy and land reform were well-known. Therefore, although he once practiced politics of a different stream, it was easy and natural for him to join the government of Ma-Mati-Manush. His death has created an irrevocable void in the political life of Bengal,” she added. “I extend my heartfelt condolences to his family, countless followers and well-wishers.”

The state government declared a half-day holiday in all its offices and allied institutions in homage to Molla.