SPECIAL STORY : Jyothi Basu

Jyoti Basu^[update] (8 July 1914 – 17 January 2010) was an Indian politician, belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from West Bengal, India. He served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000, making him India's longest-serving Chief Minister as of 2010 of any Indian state. He was a member of the CPI(M) Politburo from the time of the party's founding in 1964 until 2008.

Early life

Jyoti Basu was born on 8 July, 1914 as Jyotirindra Basu into an upper middle-class Bengali family in Calcutta. His father, Nishikanta Basu, was a doctor from the village of Bardi in Narayanganj District, East Bengal (now in Bangladesh), while his mother Hemalata Basu was a housewife. Basu’s schooling started at Loreto School at Dharmatala, Calcutta (now Kolkata), in 1920. It was there where his father shortened his name and he became Jyoti Basu. However he was moved to St. Xavier’s School in 1925. Basu completed his undergraduate education and received the honours in English from the Hindu College (renamed the Presidency College in 1855).

After completing his undergraduate studies in 1935, Basu set for England for higher studies of Law. It is said that Basu attended lectures of Harold Laski at the London School Of Economics in late 1930. It was in England that Basu was introduced to the activities of politics through the Communist Party of Great Britain.There he was inspired by noted Communist Philosopher and prolific writer Rajani Palme Dutt. In 1940 he completed his studies and qualified as a Barrister at the Middle Temple. In the same year he returned to India. In 1944 Basu became involved in trade union activities when CPI delegated him to work amongst the railway labourers. When B.N. Railway Workers Union and B.D. Rail Road Workers Union merged, Basu became the general secretary of the union.

  

Political career 

Entry into politics

Basu’s first track in politics was his efforts to organize the Indian students studying in United Kingdom, mostly for the cause of Indian Independence. While studying in England, Basu subsequently joined India League and London Majlis, both the organizations being communities of overseas Indian students. Basu was given the responsibility for arranging a meeting with Jawaharlal Nehru during Nehru's visit to London in 1938. The same was done after Subhas Chandra Bose went to England. As a member of London Majlis, Basu introduced the visiting Indian political figures to the leaders of Labour Party.

Basu was introduced to the Communist Party of Great Britain by another communist leader and Basu’s friend in England Bhupesh Gupta. It’s told Basu showed interest to join CPGB but the then Secretary General Harry Pollitt suggested him to not do so, possibly because CPGB was then banned in India and Pollitt speculated Basu could have difficulties in returning to India as a member of CPGB.

However Basu returned to India in 1940 after the completion of studies. He let his parents know about his future plan to join leftist politics which was vehemently dissuaded by them. Moreover the Communist Party of India which Basu intended to join was then banned by the British Government. Still Basu made contacts with the CPI leadership and made his way to join the party.

  

Later political career

Basu was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1946, contesting the Railway constituency. He served as the Leader of Opposition for a long time when Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy was the Chief Minister of West Bengal. Basu's admirable eloquence both as an M.L.A and the Leader of Opposition drew the attention of Dr. B. C. Roy and he had a strong affection for this young leader though his stand was completely contrary to the policies of the then State Government run by Dr. Roy. Jyoti Basu led one after another agitations against the State Government and earned enviable popularity as a politician particularly among the students and youth. Beside organising the movements of the Railway Labourers, he led a movement by the teachers demanding a hike in salary. When the Communist Party of India split in 1964, Basu became one of the first nine members of the Politburo of the newly-formed Communist Party of India (Marxist). In 1967 and 1969, Basu became Deputy Chief Minister of West Bengal in the United Front governments. In 1967, after the defeat of the Congress Government, Jyoti Basu was sworn-in as the Deputy Chief Minister under the Chief Ministership of Ajay Mukhopadhay. The Congress returned to power in West Bengal in 1972. Jyoti Basu however lost the elections from the Baranagar Assembly Constituency.

From June 21, 1977 to November 6, 2000, Basu served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the Left Front government. In 1996 Jyoti Basu seemed all set to be the consensus leader of the United Front for the post of Prime Minister of India. However, the CPI(M) Politburo decided not to participate in the government, a decision that Jyoti Basu later termed a historic blunder. H.D. Deve Gowda from the Janata Dal instead became Prime Minister. Basu resigned from the Chief Ministership of West Bengal in 2000 for health reasons, and was succeeded by fellow CPI(M) politician Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. As of 2009^[update], Basu holds the record for being the longest-serving Chief Minister in Indian political history.

The 18th congress of CPI(M), held in Delhi in 2005, re-elected Basu to its Politburo, although he had asked to be allowed to retire from it. On September 13, 2006, Basu entreated the CPI(M) to allow his retirement due to his age, but was turned down. General Secretary Prakash Karat said that the party wanted Basu to continue until its 2008 congress, at which point it would reconsider. At the 19th congress in early April 2008, Basu was not included on the Politburo, although he remained a member of the Central Committee and was designated as Special Invitee to the Politburo.

  

Controversies

In January 2006 the Supreme Court of India issued notices to Basu and others in connection with land allotments in Salt Lake.

Death

On 1 January, 2010, Basu was admitted to AMRI hospital, Salt Lake City, Kolkata after feeling unwell.On 16 January, 2010, his health condition became extremely critical and he was suffering from multiple organ failure. Seventeen days after being taken ill, he passed away on 17 January 2010 at 11:47 AM IST.

Basu had pledged to donate his body and eye for medical research on 4th April 2003 at a function organised by Ganadarpan and Susrut Eye Foundation in Kolkata.He is survived by his son Chandan. His second wife Kamal Basu had earlier passed away on October 1, 2003. His body will be donated to hospital for research on 19 January, 2010.