The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
Comrade Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) expresses its profound grief at the passing away of Comrade Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, outstanding leader of the Party and former Chief Minister of West Bengal. He was aged 80 years and had been in ailing health for some time.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya joined the Party in 1966 in his student days. He participated in various struggles of the student and youth movements. He became the state secretary of West Bengal Democratic Youth Federation in 1968. He was elected to the West Bengal state committee of the Party in 1971 and became a state secretariat member in 1982. In this period, Buddhadeb emerged as an important Party leader who undertook various responsibilities as a dedicated cadre.
Buddhadeb became a member of the Central Committee of the Party at the 12th Congress of the Party in 1985. He was elected to the Polit Bureau in 2000. As a member of the Polit Bureau till 2015, he made important contributions in shaping Party policies.
Buddhadeb’s distinctive role was as a minister and Chief Minister of the Left Front government, in which he served nearly three decades. He succeeded Jyoti Basu as the Chief Minister in November 2000 and was sworn in after that for another two terms. He had thus played a key role in the approach and policies of the Left Front government.
Buddhadeb made a significant contribution to the development of cultural institutions and sustaining progressive cultural values. His passion was literature. He was a poet, playwright and writer. He translated many international literary works into Bengali. He wrote extensively on changes in China and published a book on the subject.
Buddhadeb, as a dedicated Communist, led a simple life and throughout his tenure as Chief Minister and subsequently, lived in a modest two-room apartment.
With his death, a chapter in the Communist and Left movement of West Bengal has ended. The Polit Bureau pays revolutionary homage to his memory and conveys its deepest condolences to his wife Meera and his son Suchetan.