In an apparent disagreement with his own party, senior CPI(M) leader and West Bengal Assembly Speaker H A Halim has said that had Jyoti Basu become the Prime Minister "the course of the country's history would have changed".
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is set to elect its next general secretary, with speculation rife over who will lead the party. Leading contenders include M A Baby, backed by the party's Kerala unit, and Ashok Dhawale, who enjoys support from the West Bengal lobby. Other potential candidates include Mohammed Salim, B V Raghavulu, and Brinda Karat. The election will take place at the 24th CPI(M) congress in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Police and volunteers wore a helpless look as a sea of people poured in from every possible corner of the city. Their sole aim was to be a part of Basu's last rites. "Hope we get to see him just once," said a middle-aged man to his friend, adding "The queue just isn't moving".
The condition of veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Jyoti Basu continued to remain critical on Tuesday with his immunity level deteriorating.
As a young barrister who embraced Communism, Jyoti Basu showed remarkable pragmatism in a dogmatic party that prevented him from becoming prime minister at the height of coalition politics.
Communist Party of India-Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu on Thursday's night underwent a two-hour haemodialysis after further deterioration in his cardiac and renal functions and his condition was unstable and very critical, his personal physician A K Maity said.
The condition of veteran Communist Party of India - Marxist leader Jyoti Basu on Wednesday showed slight improvement but he continued to remain critical. "Basu's blood pressure and pulse are stable at the moment and he has mild fever," said AMRI Hospital Superintendent Dr Debashis Sharma.Basu continues to be on partial ventilation and is being administered blood pressure stabilising drugs ionotrops, he said, adding that his sensorium has shown little improvement.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee visited ailing Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu in a hospital in Kolkata on Saturday evening and said she was praying for the speedy recovery of the 95-year-old leader.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo meeting, which began in Kolkata on Tuesday, did not discuss party partriach Jyoti Basu's desire to quit from the highest decision-making forum due to ill-health and age.
Former West Bengal chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray reminisces about his long association with the Communist Party of India-Marxist stalwart Jyoti Basu while flipping through an old album. Indrani Roy Mitra notes down the ruminations.
There was no significant improvement in the condition of Marxist veteran Jyoti Basu, battling pneumonia at a Kolkata hospital for the eighth day on Friday, with his line of treatment being endorsed by specialists of All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member and state secretary Biman Bose emerged from the hospital at 12.12 pm on Sunday weeping to formally announce the passing away of 95-year-old Basu.
Former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan, a key figure in Kerala's political history, died on Monday at the age of 101. He was a founding member of the CPI(M) and served as Chief Minister from 2006 to 2011.
Describing Communist stalwart Jyoti Basu as an icon and towering personality in Indian politics, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday said his demise had marked the end of an era.
The former West Bengal chief minister was admitted to Salt Lake's AMRI Hospital on New Year's Day with pneumonia and was shifted to the intensive care unit five days later as he developed sepsis.
"His general condition is marginally better than Saturday, but still critical and he is on partial ventilation," Executive Director of private AMRI hospital D N Agarwal told media persons. Agarwal, who gave a break up of the functioning of Basu's vital organs, said, "his central nervous system is better in comparison to Saturday and his cardio-vascular system is more or less stable."
Former chief minister of West Bengal and Communist Party of India-Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu continued to remain in a critical condition on Monday with doctors attending on him saying that lack of any improvement in his health was 'not a good sign.'
'According to JP, Indira Gandhi was not much of a danger to democracy. He said, it was Sanjay Gandhi and his gang.'
Mamata, for her part, said, "I am happy that he listened to all the details from me about Nandigram and Singur. I will meet him again if he calls me after discussing the matter with the concerned people."
CPI-M patriarch Jyoti Basu has raised a controversy by demanding the inclusion of West Bengal transport minister Subhas Chakraborty in the party Politburo as well as state party secretariat. Basu had earlier pitched for Chakroborty's inclusion to party general secretary Prakash Karat, but the veteran leader had failed to impress Karat in this regard.
Last week, Basu had been quoted as saying, "We want capital, both foreign and domestic. After all, we are working in a capitalist system. Socialism is not possible now." Maintaining that Basu's remarks were on the nature of capitalist development in West Bengal and the role of the Left Front government, party general secretary Prakash Karat said, "On the basis of these reports, some political leaders have also come out with equally confused and misplaced reactions."
It was impossible to get access to Indira Bhavan, Jyoti Basu's residence, without the help of his personal assistant Joykrishna Ghosh. Ghosh worked with the veteran leader for years and the two shared a very special ties.
Bengal's ace writer Sunil Gangopadhyay shared his opinions about the former West Bengal chief minister with rediff.com.
It is worth wondering how far the fulsome national coverage Jyoti Basu received this week was warranted, except on the basis of his record as India's longest-serving chief minister.
The condition of Communist Party of India-Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu turned extremely critical on Saturday with all his vital organs affected and there was 'little hope of any good result.'
He will seek to finalise a coordination committee between the alliance and Left parties by Sunday.
For the first time in the history of the Communist Party of India - Marxist, its two founding members Jyoti Basu and Harkishan Singh Surjeet will give a miss to the party's 19th All India Congress, which begins in Coimbatore on Saturday, due to health-related reasons. The 94-year-old Basu expressed his regret and inability to attend the Congress. "Their absence would be deeply felt. But both the comrades, we know, are always with us," MP Brinda Karat said.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) Politburo on Thursday turned down veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu's proposal to quit the party's highest policy-making body because of age and ill health.
Senior Communist Party of India - Marxist leader Jyoti Basu on Tuesday said that controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen can return to Kolkata if she chooses to, but the Centre will have to ensure her security. ''If she wants to return to Kolkata or elsewhere in West Bengal, she is welcome. But the Centre will have to ensure her security,'' he told reporters at his Salt Lake residence. He is the first CPI-M leader to speak in a sympathetic tone for the writer.
A stream of mourners lined up before the Communist Party of India - Marxist of India headquarters and the Indira Bhavan, the official residence of Jyoti Basu, in Kolkata to pay their last respects to the departed leader on Monday. A holiday has been declared in the state government offices as a mark of respect to the veteran Communist leader. A portrait of Basu has been placed on a pedestal in front of the party headquarters to enable mourners to pay floral tributes
Recounting her interactions with the veteran leader, Mahasweta Devi told rediff.com on Sunday, 'Basu was a nice gentleman who had the guts to call spade a spade and who was willing to listen to the people'.
Paying glowing tribute to former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday described him as the "first and last chapter of the Left Front government".
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who paid homage to CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu, described the Marxist patriarch as a politician of "high values" and said he would be missed by all.
Communist Party of India general secretary A B Bardhan and national secretary D Raja will go to Kolkata and represent their party at the cremation.
Taking a dig at BJP leader L K Advani's suggestion that former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee be awarded the Bharat Ratna, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Saturday said the government will not be a party to the ex-premier's retirement from politics.
"We Marxists want to bring about a radical change since our goal is to achieve socialism to usher in a classless, oppression-free society. But it is not possible to achieve that end being in power in only three states," the nonagenarian former Chief Minister said at a CPI-M rally at the Brigade Parade ground in Kolkata.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker and expelled Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Somnath Chatterjee on Monday said Jyoti Basu, whom he considered as his 'political guru', had asked him to preside over the crucial trust vote debate in the lower house in 2008, saying that the party cannot give any direction to him as he held a constitutional office.
Veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu on Friday welcomed Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's readiness to sit with the Tatas for finding a solution to the Singur small car factory controversy.
"By not attending (the funeral) and justifying her absence, she has insulted the people of Bengal who turned out in lakhs. Now they will have to decide," he told media persons when asked to comment on the Railway minister's absence at the funeral on Tuesday.
Details of the coordination panel, including its role, is likely to be announced in the evening.
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