Former West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee passes away at 80

Former West Bengal Chief Minister and veteran Marxist leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee passed away at his residence in Kolkata on Thursday.

He was 80. He is survived by wife Meera and son Suchetan.

The CPI(M) leader had been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for some years. Due to his health conditions, he remained confined to his two-room government apartment at South Kolkata’s Palm Avenue over the last few years and mostly stayed away from public programmes.

He was the Chief Minister of the State from 2000 to 2011, succeeding Leftist stalwart and CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu.

Bhattacharjee was a strong advocate of rapid industrialisation in West Bengal, which had an anti-industry image. During his tenure, the Left Front government adopted a liberal policy towards business to woo private investments. Bhattacharjee steered Bengal to one of the leading States in terms of the rapid growth of the industry.

However, it was land acquisition policies related to industrialisation, particularly in Singur and Nandigram, that paved the way for the Left Front’s defeat in the 2011 elections.

In the 2011 Assembly elections, Bhattacharjee-led Left Front lost to Trinamool Congress, marking the end of the 34-year rule of the CPI(M) in the state.

Bhattacharjee stepped down from the CPI(M)‘s politburo and the central committee in 2015 and gave up membership in the party’s State secretariat in 2018.

Political parties across the spectrum on Thursday grieved the passing away of Bhattacharya.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Saddened by the passing of Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, former CM of West Bengal. He was a political stalwart who served the State with commitment. My heartfelt condolences to his family and supporters.”

Condoling the demise of Bhattacharjee, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee said, “Shocked and saddened by the sudden demise of the former Chief Minister Sri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. I have been knowing him for the last several decades, and visited him a few times when he was ill and effectively confined to home in the last few years.”

“I communicate my condolences to the members of the CPI(M) party and all his followers,” Banerjee said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “My deepest condolences on the passing away of Former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. He served the people in a political career spanning more than five decades. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and comrades.”

Assam Chief Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said Bhattacharjee was a stalwart in public service. “A stalwart in public service, his extensive experience of over five decades as an MLA, Minister and later as Chief Minister has left an indelible mark.” His simplicity, rich contributions to Bengali literature and commitment to community service were noteworthy, Sarma said.

“Admired for his simplicity and devotion to public service, which spanned over five decades, he played a pivotal role in shaping his state’s modern history. I extend my deepest condolences to his family and supporters. I pray that his soul attains eternal peace,” Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu said in a post on X.