Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the former chief minister of West Bengal and leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), also known as CPI (M), passed away in Kolkata on Thursday. He was eighty.
Bhattacharjee, who had been mostly confined to his home for the past few years due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lived in a small, two-room government apartment in the Ballygunge neighborhood of south Kolkata. Before his condition improved last year, he had been in and out of a hospital in south Kolkata, where he was diagnosed with a critical condition. In May 2021, Bhattacharjee was hospitalized at the same facility due to a COVID-19 infection. After seven days, he was released.
His condition deteriorated early in the morning, and he passed away around 8:20 a.m. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a writer from Colombia, was one of his favorite authors and an avid reader. Bhattacharjee donated his body, according to CPI (M) leader Md Salim, and his funeral will be held on Friday.
Before the disastrous outcome of the 2011 assembly elections for the CPI-led Left Front, Bhattacharjee held the position of chief minister for two terms in a row, beginning in May 2001. He succeeded Jyoti Basu, who had led the state since 1977. From 1977 to 2011, the CPI (M) ruled West Bengal without interruption.
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