Swapna Barman, the heptathlete who was fielded by the Trinamool Congress from the Rajganj Assembly constituency of the Jalpaiguri district, suffered a personal loss on Saturday with the demise of her father.

The bereavement prompted the district leadership of Trinamool to convene an urgent meeting, where it was decided that Khageswar Roy, the sitting MLA of Rajganj, and Krishna Das, the party’s candidate from the Jalpaiguri seat and district president of its SC and OBC cell, would carry forward Swapna’s campaign.

Swapna’s father, Panchanan Barman, was 74. He had suffered a cerebral attack and cardiac arrest a few days ago and had initially been admitted to Jalpaiguri Government Medical College and Hospital. He was later shifted to a private nursing home in Siliguri, where he passed away on Saturday morning.

His mortal remains were brought to the family’s residence in Kaliaganj-Ghoshpara, on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri town, where the last rites were performed.

Senior Trinamool leaders visited Swapna’s residence to pay their respects. Mahua Gope, the district Trinamool president, said Swapna and her family would take time to recover from the loss and would stay away from campaign for the next few days.

“We held a meeting today where it was decided that Krishna Das and Khageswar Roy will campaign for her. In due course, she will join the campaign,” Gope said.

The development comes in the backdrop of earlier discontent within the party after Trinamool announced its candidates for the Assembly elections.

Khageswar Roy, a four-time MLA, had expressed disappointment after being dropped from the Rajganj seat in favour of Swapna.

He had even resigned as the district chairman and publicly criticised the party leadership before being pacified by chief minister Mamata Banerjee.