Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
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Buddhadeb Bhattacharya (Bengali: বুদ্ধদেব ভট্টাচার্য) (or Buddhadev Bhattacharya, or Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee) (born March 1, 1944) has been the Chief Minister of West Bengal (India) with the additional charge of the Nandan Film Complex, since November 6, 2000. He is also a politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M).
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[edit] The Chief Minister
Born in 1944 in north Calcutta, the chief minister belongs to a family which had produced another famous son. Revolutionary poet Sukanta Bhattacharya was his father's cousin. Soon after graduating from Presidency College in 1964, he joined the CPI-M as a primary member. Besides taking active part in the food movement, he also supported Vietnam's cause in 1968. He was appointed state secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation, the youth wing of the CPI(M) that was later merged into the Democratic Youth Federation of India.
In 1977, he was elected as a Legislative Assembly Member for the first time. His constituency then was Kashipur. It was the first time that the CPI(M)-led Left Front came to power in West Bengal. He was given charge of the ministry of information and culture; it was his favorite position and during his tenure he contributed to Bengali theatre, movies and music.
After losing the 1982 assembly election from Kashipur, he changed his constituency to Jadavpur in 1987. The move was successful; he won comfortably and regained his post as information and culture minister, with additional charge of municipal affairs.
The 1991 assembly election saw him win again from Jadavpur. However, after a few years, Bhattacharya fell out of favour when he criticised certain aspects of his party. Though there was no official reaction from either Jyoti Basu (then Chief Minister of West Bengal), or the CPI(M), Bhattacharya resigned from the ministry.
Bhattacharya was initially a teacher at the Dum Dum Adarsh Vidya Mandir. He has written a book of poems (Chena Phooler Gondho, or "The Fragrance Of The Known Flowers"), written for the stage, and translated the works of Gabriel García Márquez and Vladimir Mayakovsky into Bengali. Like many Bengali people, he is also an admirer of Rabindra Sangeet.
Bhattacharya is also known to be a passionate cricket fan. An avid traveller, he has toured extensively in China, the erstwhile Soviet Union, Cuba, Vietnam, Great Britain, France and Singapore.
Bhattacharyya and his wife Meera have a daughter, Suchetana who is an environment and wildlife activist.
In 1996, the CPI-M won the West Bengal assembly elections for the fifth consecutive time. Bhattacharya was once again appointed information and culture minister, but with additional authority over the home (police) ministry. Basu continued looking after home (personnel).
Not only did the two leaders (Jyoti Basu & Bhattacharya) become closer during this period, Bhattacharya also matured as a politician. He is considered to be one of the few leaders who is both moderate and efficient and can balance both the hardliners and liberals in the party. Which was why, after 1996, he was always considered a viable alternative to Basu.
This eventually led to his being promoted the Chief Minister, when Basu finally decided to step down in 2000, ahead of the State Assembly elections due in May 2001. Though Basu was ill and aged, his government was fast losing popularity. There were unsubstantiated media stories about corruption involving Basu's son, and the state economy was generally losing steam. There was an investment flight away from the state, increased joblessness in urban areas, a serious crunch in technical and medical education facilities and a near-breakdown of health services at the time. Bhattacharya was made the Chief Minister with the objective of making the administration look cleaner (he is seen as 'uncorruptible' to this day even by his critics) and more efficient. His clean image was primarily responsible for winning a record 6th term for the Left Front government in West Bengal in May 2001, though with a much reduced majority.
After becoming the chief minister Bhattacharya has liberalised Bengal's economy significantly. He has attracted a lot of foreign investment in Bengal. Many new industries and IT related services have emerged under his leadership. He is generally seen as a Communist leader who is open to reforms. However, his opponents have criticized him for taking farmlands to build industries. Bhattacharya said in return, that these farmlands were not so productive and they will provide better jobs to many poor people. Some communists have also criticized Bhattacharya for pursuing economic reforms. Recently Bhattacharya said that he does not want to unionize the IT industry. Labour unions of Bengal have criticized this decision saying that this will lead to the exploitation of IT workers.
His biggest asset proved to be his clean image, which helped him lead the Left Front to a 7th consecutive term in 2006 Assembly Elections. He personally won from Jadavpur constituency with 127,837 votes. His victory margin went up from 29,281 in 2001 to 58,130 in 2006. His coalition improved its tally from 199 seats [out of 300] to 235 and reduced the other opposition parties to insignificance.
[edit] Controversy
In January 2006 the Supreme Court of India issued notices to Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and others in connection with land allotements made in the Salt Lake City township in Kolkata. [1]
On March 14, 2007, farmers were protesting against government plans to set up a chemical hub and an industrial zone in a hamlet called Nandigram in West Bengal. Bhattacharya ordered a "police action" against the farmers that led to the deaths of 14 protesters and 70 injuries. Buddhadev Bhattacharya has come under heavy criticism not only from opposition parties (such as the Trinamool Congress) and other Left Front coalition allies like CPI, RSP and Forward Block, who threatened to back out from the ministry on this issue, but also from his mentor and the state's former chief minister, Jyoti Basu. On March 15, 2007 Basu criticized Bhattacharya for failing to restrain the police in Nandigram.[2] Bhattacharya has tried to justify the police firing at Nandigram [3], although he has also expressed regret for the shootings [4]. This incident has resulted in the many of the left intellectuals, writers, singers and actors declaring their mistrust on CPI(M) and Buddhadev Bhattacharya and many authors returning their state-given awards, or stepping down from their honorary posts in various state-government cultural organizations. The CPI(M) has declared that they are totally behind Bhattacharya and support the shootings and have drawn "plans" to placate his critics.[5]
[edit] Role in the Nandigram Massacre
It has become increasingly clear that Buddhadeb had a direct hand in the the massacre at Nandigram. The CBI enquiry has revealed that armed CPI(M) cadres accompanied the police party and long advance planning was done. The firing was not to calm protesters as claimed but of retributive nature with most casualties of bullet injuries suffered in the upper body, leading to fatalities and grevious injuries. Henchmen hired have also been arrested by the CBI and their interrogation has revealed that they were paid to kill by CPI(M) party bosses. Investigations into the orders communicated to police and administration in the run up to the massacre will reveal more. There has been attempts to divert the blame to the police forces or to local communist party leaders. It is abundantly clear that the orders to fire were given in consultation with the CMs office, as would be likely for such an important decision as this. Firing was part of the brief. The CM may therefore come up for criminal prosecution for the deaths.
{vandalisation note} This page has a tendency of being vandalised by communist cadres.
[edit] Education
Bhattacharya studied Bengali literature at the Presidency College, Kolkata.
| Preceded by Jyoti Basu |
Chief Minister of West Bengal 2000– |
Succeeded by Current Incumbent |
