Former West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee passes away

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the former Chief Minister of Bengal and a prominent communist party leader, died at the age of 80, his family revealed on Thursday. He died around 8:20 a.m. at his home in Ballygunge, Kolkata.

He is survived by his wife Mira and daughter Suchetana.

Mohammed Salim, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary, confirmed the report.

CM Mamata Banerjee expresses grief over Buddhadeb’s demise

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed “deep sadness” at Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s “sudden demise.”

“I am saddened by the sudden demise of former West Bengal Chief Minister Shri Buddhadev Bhattacharya. I have known him for decades and visited him at home a few times when he was ill in the last few years. I feel very sad right now. My sincere condolences to Meeradi and Suchetan in this time of bereavement. My sincere condolences to all CPI (M) party members, supporters and all their followers,” she tweeted.

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Who was Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee?

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who turned 80 in March, has been dealing with age-related health issues for a long time and has been hospitalized numerous times recently. He avoided public life due to his infirmities.

He was the Chief Minister of Bengal from 2000 until 2011. He succeeded former CPI(M) senior Jyoti Basu.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee served as the eastern state’s final Left Chief Minister. He lost the 2011 Assembly elections to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, effectively ending the Left’s 34-year hegemony in Bengal.

Demonstrations against land acquisition for industries, led by Mamata Banerjee, marked his term.

He left the CPI(M) politburo and central committee in 2015, and three years later resigned from the party’s state secretariat.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has mainly avoided public events in recent years, preferring to spend time at his two-room government flat on Palm Avenue in south Kolkata.