Ex-CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who sought to bring industry to Bengal, dies at 80

Kolkata, Aug 8 (PTI) Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, known for his efforts to bring industry to the state, died on Thursday at his Kolkata home following old age-related ailments.

The former chief minister was 80 and is survived by his wife Mira and daughter Suchetana who underwent gender change surgery.

The veteran CPI(M) leader who had pledged his body for medical research, will be taken to a hospital after people pay their last respects to him on Friday, the party’s state secretary Mohd Salim said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of Bhattacharjee.

“He was a political stalwart who served the state with commitment. My heartfelt condolences to his family and supporters. Om Shanti,” Modi said in a post on X.

Bhattacharjee died at 8.30 am in his two-room apartment where he kept himself confined, rarely making public appearances, after losing the 2011 assembly elections that also brought an end to the 34-year-long Left Front government in the state.

Mamata Banerjee, the current chief minister, condoled the death of his predecessor, saying he would be remembered for his work.

“I have known him for last several decades, and visited him a few times when he was ill and effectively confined to home in the last few years,” Banerjee said in a post on X.

Later she visited Bhattacharjee’s residence and said that her predecessor, against whose government she had fought a political battle till the defeat of the CPI(M)-led Left Front in 2011, had a lot of contributions.

In his condolence message, West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose said the CPI(M) leader earned the respect and love of the people.

Bose also visited the residence of Bhattacharjee.

Condolences also poured in from several quarters.

BJP state president and Union minister recalled Bhattacharjee for attempting to bring “industrial growth and urban development” in West Bengal during his tenure as CM.

Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said, “I am deeply saddened to learn that former West Bengal Chief Minister Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has left for his heavenly abode.”

Chief Ministers of Kerala Pinarayi Vijaya, his counterparts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh Himanta Biswa Sarma and Pema Khandu respectively also expressed grief at the death of the veteran Left leader.

CPI(M) supporters gathered near Bhattacharjee’s residence while leaders of various political parties visited his flat.

The veteran CPI(M) leader took over as the chief minister of West Bengal in 2000 from party senior Jyoti Basu.

Bhattacharjee, who was the seventh chief minister of the state, pushed hard to shed his party’s anti-industry image and promote industrialisation to breathe new life into Bengal’s moribund economy.

He actively engaged himself in wooing investors and big capital to set up industries in the state with the primary goal of generating more employment opportunities for the youth.

His tenure, however, was also marked by agitations over the acquisition of land for industries led by present Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

He oversaw the end of an era in which he helmed the longest democratically elected communist government but failed to lead the Left Front to victory for the eighth time in a row in the highly politically polarised state.

After the electoral loss in 2011, Bhattacharjee stepped down from the CPI(M) politburo and central committee in 2015 and gave up membership of the party’s state secretariat in 2018.