Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, a former West Bengal chief minister, passes away at age 80
The Left Front administration in Bengal pursued a rather liberal stance toward business during Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s term.
Kolkata: Veteran Left politician and former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee passed away this morning at his home in south Kolkata. He was eighty. He had been hospitalized many times due to respiratory issues that had been plaguing him for some time. He had to be placed on life support last year due to illness. However, the seasoned CPM leader returned.
His son Suchetan and wife Meera survive him.
From 2000 until 2011, Mr. Bhattacharjee, who was formerly a member of the CPM’s Politburo, the highest decision-making body, led Bengal as chief minister, taking over from Jyoti Basu. Mr. Bhattacharjee led the CPM into the 2011 state elections, in which the Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, achieved a historic victory that brought an end to the eastern state’s 34-year Communist rule.
Known for leading a modest life, Mr. Bhattacharjee passed away in his two-bedroom Palm Avenue apartment, where he had previously served as the state’s governor. In accordance with his desires, his organs will be given for medical study. His last voyage will happen tomorrow, and his body will remain in the CPM headquarters so that his supporters may pay their respects.
Before he entered politics full-time, Mr. Bhattacharjee, a graduate of Kolkata’s Presidency College, taught in schools. Prior to Mr. Basu’s resignation in 2000, he held positions as an MLA, a state minister, and deputy chief minister. As Chief Minister, he guided the CPM to victory in the 2001 and 2006 Assembly elections.
In contrast to the Jyoti Basu administration, the Left Front government under Mr. Bhattacharjee had a more liberal stance toward business. Ironically, the Left’s shocking defeat in the 2011 election was made possible by this program and land purchases linked to industrialization.
Leading the opposition to the Tata Motors facility in Singur was the Trinamool Congress, which managed to secure only thirty seats in the 2006 elections. In the end, Ratan Tata chose to transfer the project to Gujarat in 2008, citing Ms. Banerjee’s movement as justification. This was a major blow to the government of Mr. Bhattacharjee. The violence in Nandigram, where 14 people were killed as a result of police action against a group protesting against the purchase of land for a chemical hub project, was equally destructive.
The anti-incumbency sentiment of the Left Front administration and the bad view of the state government’s land acquisition policy paid off politically for Ms. Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, which won 184 seats in the 2011 election. The Left has not yet fully recovered from the damage caused by their loss in the 2011 elections. The Left is now only a tiny presence in the state that it previously ran unopposed for decades after the BJP surpassed it as the primary opposition during the course of the following ten years.
The family of Mr. Bhattacharjee received condolences from Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose. Chief Minister Banerjee expressed her condolences, stating that she has known the seasoned Left politician for many years. “I’m furious right now. My sympathies go out to Meera di Suchetan and all CPM supporters. We’ve already decided that we will honor him ceremonially and with the utmost reverence on his final voyage,” she remarked.
BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition, said he is “deeply saddened” by the news and sent his sympathies to Mr. Bhattacharjee’s family and supporters.
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