Veteran Left leader and former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee passed away at his south Kolkata residence this morning. He was 80. Bhattacharjee had been grappling with respiratory issues for some time, leading to frequent hospitalisations.
Last year, he was placed on life support after contracting pneumonia but made a remarkable recovery. He is survived by his wife Meera and son Suchetan.
Bhattacharjee, a former member of the CPM's top decision-making body, the Politburo, served as Bengal's Chief Minister from 2000 to 2011, succeeding Jyoti Basu.
His tenure marked a significant period in West Bengal's political landscape. Under his leadership, the CPM faced a historic defeat in the 2011 state polls, where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress ended the 34-year Communist rule in the state.
An alumnus of Presidency College, Kolkata, Bhattacharjee was a school teacher before transitioning to full-time politics. He started as an MLA and state minister before being elevated to Deputy Chief Minister. In 2000, he succeeded Jyoti Basu as Chief Minister, leading the CPM to Assembly poll victories in 2001 and 2006.
Bhattacharjee's tenure was marked by a relatively open approach towards business compared to the Basu regime. This shift aimed at industrialisation, and land acquisitions ultimately contributed to the Left Front's defeat in 2011.
Bhattacharjee's efforts to industrialise the state included bringing Tata Motors to build an automobile factory in Hooghly's Singur. However, the anti-land acquisition movements in Singur and Nandigram, spearheaded by Mamata Banerjee, played a crucial role in ending the Left Front's 34-year rule.
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