Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Dies At 80
Former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Dies At 80
Kolkata: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, veteran Left leader and former West Bengal Chief Minister, died at his south Kolkata residence this morning. He was 80.
He had been unwell for a while and had been suffering from respiratory problems that led to frequent hospitalisations.
Last year, he had to be put on life support after he contracted pneumonia. But the veteran CPM leader made a comeback.
He is survived by his wife Meera and son Suchetan.
Mr Bhattacharjee, also a former member of the CPM’s top decision-making body, Politburo, served as Bengal Chief Minister from 2000 to 2011, succeeding Jyoti Basu in the top post. Mr Bhattacharjee led the CPM into the 2011 state polls, when the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress posted a historic win, ending the 34-year Communist rule in the eastern state.
An alumnus of Presidency College, Kolkata, Mr Bhattacharjee was a school teacher before he joined politics full-time. After serving as an MLA and a state minister, he was elevated to Deputy Chief Minister before Mr Basu stepped down in 2000. As Chief Minister, he led the CPM to Assembly poll victories in 2001 and 2006.
During Mr Bhattacharjee’s tenure, the Left Front government adopted a relatively open policy towards business as compared to the Jyoti Basu regime. Ironically, it was this policy and land acquisitions related to industrialisation that paved the way for the Left’s stunning victory in the 2011 election.
Former Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee passed away at his Palm Avenue residence in south Calcutta on Thursday morning. He was 80.
Bhattacharjee, the last Marxist chief minister, succeeded Jyoti Basu and was at the helm till May 2011, when the Trinamul came to power. Bhattacharjee breathed his last around 8.20 am.
Ailing for a long time with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, Bhattacharjee had abandoned public life for over five years because of his failing health.
It was Bhattacharjee’s push for speedy industrialization of the state that is counted as one of the reasons behind the ouster of the CPM after an uninterrupted rule of 34 years, under two chief ministers, Basu and Bhattacharjee.
Bhattacharjee had got Tata Motors to build an automobile factory in Hooghly’s Singur soon after the Left Front returned to power for what turned out to be its last term. The anti-land acquisition movements in Singur and Nandigram led by Mamata Banerjee and a rainbow coalition brought an end to the LF rule.
During the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the CPM had released an AI generated speech of Bhattacharjee addressed to the voters of Bengal where he had urged the electorate to reject both the BJP and the Trinamul.
A poet and translator, Bhattacharjee was an avid reader and regarded Gabriel Garcia Marquez as one of his favourites.
Former Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya passes away at 80
He had been suffering from from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and has rarely left home in the last few years.
Former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya passed away on Thursday morning at his residence in Kolkata. He was 80 and is survived by his wife Mira and daughter Suchetana.
Bhattacharya, who served as the chief minister from November 2000 to May 2011, lived in a small two-room government apartment in south Kolkata’s Ballygunge area. He had been suffering from from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and has rarely left home in the last few years.
He was last seen outside in 2019 when he went to a CPI(M) rally but could not attend due to a dust allergy and returned home.
During the 2024 polls, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) shared a video of Bhattacharya generated using artificial intelligence (AI) in which the ailing leader urged voters to vote for the Left and secular forces in polls.
Bhattacharya’s AI avatar spoke on issues ranging from Sandeshkhali to unemployment and allegations of corruption in West Bengal, attacking the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). The video also targeted the BJP-ruled Centre over demonetisation, electoral bonds and inflation.
A CPI(M) leader and editor of its mouthpiece Ganashakti, Samik Lahiri, told The Indian Express, “If Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had been fit to appear before the public, this would definitely have been his appeal to the public during this Lok Sabha elections.”
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