The story of Buddhadev Bhattacharya, the last lamp of leftist politics that went out in Bengal

Former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya, popularly known as Bhadralokin Bhadrapurush (Gentleman of Bengal), passed away. Bhattacharya, 80, had been ailing for the past few years. Bhattacharya took over the post of Chief Minister of Bengal from Jyoti Basu. Bhattacharya, who was chief minister for 11 years, was the last Communist Party ruler in Bengal. Emphasizing practical politics, Buddhadev Bhattacharya was influential in Bengali politics for about 35 years. Bhattacharya's entry into politics from a Bengali Brahmin family is also very interesting. Studied in Bengali literature and became a government teacher, Buddhadev, born on March 1, 1944, did his entire education from Kolkata. He graduated in Bengali Literature from Buddhadev Presidency College. Family reasons were behind Buddhadev's study of Bengali literature. Buddhadeva's grandfather was a great expert in literature and published a famous magazine called Pujari Darban in Kolkata. After graduation, Buddhadev became a teacher. Buddhadev entered politics after teaching children for a few years. Started his career in student politics: Born in Kolkata, Buddhadev Bhattacharya started his career in student politics. In 1968, he was elected as the state secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation, a student organization of the CPM. After this Buddhadev never looked back in politics. In 1977, he was elected MLA from Kashipur-Belsia assembly constituency in Kolkata. In 1987, he shifted from Jadavpur constituency. He was MLA from this constituency till 2011. In 1977 Buddhadev took charge of the Ministry of Information and Culture in Jyoti Basu's government. He held this position till 1982. He was again included in the cabinet in 1987. This time he was given bigger portfolios like urban development. In 1996 Buddhadev became the Home Minister of Bengal. Jyoti Basu handed over the command of Bengal to Buddhadev Bhattacharya in 2000. Buddhadev was then the Deputy Chief Minister of Bengal. Basu was the Chief Minister of Bengal till 2011. The controversial peasant movement in Singur and Nandigram in Bengal took place during his tenure. Buddhadev was active in politics till 2015. He then quit politics. However, in the 2021 elections, CPM made Buddhadev deliver a message through AI video. The central government had announced that Buddhadev Bhattacharya would be awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2022, but Bhattacharya refused to accept it. In 2005, Manmohan had said that he was the best Chief Minister of the country, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Buddhadev Bhattacharya the best Chief Minister of the country. In the same year, he was also awarded this title by businessman Aziz Premji. Buddhadev tried to establish an anti-occupational policy in Bengal during his reign. However, his government failed in this. Buddhadev was also a member of the Politburo, the highest body of the CPI(M), from 2002 to 2015. Mamata and Subendu condole the demise of Buddhadev Bhattacharya. Mamata says that I have known Buddhadev Bhattacharya for a long time. A mountain of grief fell upon his loved ones. My deepest condolences to his family and CPM workers. His funeral will be held with state honours. Subendu also expressed grief and condoled. Senior Congress leader Pradeep Bhattacharya said that Buddha's death was a personal loss.