Published 10:59 IST, August 8th 2024
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee- A Left CM with Open Policies
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was a communist politician and a prominent leader of Communist Party of India(Marxist).
Kolkata: Former chief minister of West Bengal and CPM leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee passed away on Thursday morning in Calcutta after prolonged illness at the age of 80, as per the reports.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was a communist politician and a prominent leader of Communist Party of India(Marxist).
During 34 years of left rule in West Bengal, Bhattacharjee served as chief minister for 11 long years as the 7th chief minister from 2000-2011.
Bhattacharjee was known for his relatively open policies regarding business, in contrast with the financial policies of Left being primarily anti-capitalist and pro workers.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was in active politics for 5 long decades and became a prominent politician of CPM.
Birth, Origin and Early Life
Bhattacharjee was born on 1st March 1944 in Northern Kolkata in a Bengali Brahmin family, while his family trace origin to Madaripur district in present-day Bangladesh.
He studied Bengali literature at the Presidency College in Kolkata and later joined Adarsh Shankha Vidya Mandir School at Dum Dum.
Bhattacharjee joined CPI(M) as a primary member in 1966 and later participated in the food movement against the Congress government in the state. In 1968, he was elected as the State Secretary of the Democratic Youth Front, the youth wing of the party.
Life in Politics
He contested his first election in 1977 for the state legislature from Kashipur-Belgachia constituency and won with high margin.
Bhattacharjee served as the Minister of Information and Public Relations in the West Bengal Cabinet from 1977 to 1982. Later, he became the MLA of Jadavpur in 1987 and continued to represent the constituency until 2011, when he lost the majority in the 2011 elections.
In 1996, after the West Bengal election, Bhattacharjee was handed the responsibility of the Home and Police Department due to the declining health of Chief Minister Jyoti Basu. In 1999, he was made the Deputy Chief Minister of West Bengal. In 2002, he was elected to the Politburo of CPI(M).
Updated 12:35 IST, August 8th 2024