Agartala, Jul 31 (IANS): Veteran Left leader and former minister of the first Left Front government in Tripura Dr Braja Gopal Roy died here following prolonged illness, family sources said. He was 86.

Dr Roy, a top Forward Bloc leader and renowned cultural personality, was the last surviving minister of the first Left Front government (1978-1983), and is survived by a daughter and wife. A teacher-turned-politician, Dr Roy, who authored more than 15 books on various literary and societal themes, was a scholar of Bengali literature and a diehard follower of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

He was also a lifelong and founder member of Rabindra Parishad, Tripura's top literary-cultural centre, and was always active in literary and cultural activities all through his life. Dr Roy was minister in the first CPI-M led Left Front government in 1978-1983 under Chief Minister Nripen Chakraborty and again in the third Left government (1993-1998) led by Chief Minister Dasaratha Deb.

Condoling the death, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha in a statement said, "Dr Roy was actively involved both in literary works and politics. He was a very honest personality and his death was an enormous loss to the cultural and literary world."

Former Tripura Chief Minister and opposition leader Manik Sarkar and Left Front convener Narayan Kar condoled the death and highly praised his simple life style and intellectual capability. Dr Roy's last rites were performed with full state honours on Sunday afternoon at Battala mass cremation ground.