Jyoti Basu
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| Jyoti Basu | |
 Jyoti Basu |
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Chief Minister of West Bengal
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| In office 21 June 1977–6 November 2000 |
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| Preceded by | Siddhartha Shankar Ray |
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| Succeeded by | Buddhadev Bhattacharya |
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| Born | 8 July 1914 Calcutta, West Bengal |
| Political party | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Residence | Kolkata |
| Religion | Atheist |
| Website | www.cpim.org |
| As of January 27, 2007 Source: [1] |
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Jyoti Basu (Bengali: জ্যোতি বসু) (born July 8, 1914) is a Communist politician from West Bengal, India. Basu is a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and, as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000, was India's longest-serving Chief Minister. He was a member of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau from the time of the party's founding in 1964 until 2008.[1][2]
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[edit] Background
Basu was the son of a wealthy doctor, born into an upper middle-class Bengali family in Calcutta. His father, Nishikanta Basu, hailed from the village of Barodi in Dhaka District, East Bengal (now in Bangladesh).[3] He got his school education at St. Xavier's Collegiate School. He graduated from Presidency College with an honours degree from the Art Faculty in 1935, and subsequently travelled to London to study law. He was introduced to the Communist Party of Great Britain through Bhupesh Gupta.
Basu returned to India in 1940 after qualifying for the Bar and became a whole-timer of the Communist Party of India. In 1944 Basu became involved in trade union activities. 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.
[edit] Political career
Basu was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1946, contesting the Railway constituency. When the Communist Party of India split in 1964, Basu became one of the first nine members of the Polit Bureau of the newly-formed Communist Party of India (Marxist).[2] In 1967 and 1969, Basu became Deputy Chief Minister of West Bengal in the United Front governments.
Between June 21, 1977 and November 6, 2000, Basu served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the Left Front government. In 1997 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 2006, Basu holds the record for 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 Polit Bureau, although he had asked to be allowed to retire from it.[1] 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.[4] At the 19th congress in early April 2008, Basu was not included on the Polit Bureau,[1][2] although he remained a member of the Central Committee[1] and was designated as Special Invitee to the Politburo.[1][2]
[edit] Controversies
In January 2006 the Supreme Court of India issued notices to Basu and others in connection with land allotments in Salt Lake.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e "Jyoti Basu will continue on Central Committee", The Hindu, April 4, 2008.
- ^ a b c d "Nine to none, founders’ era ends in CPM", The Telegraph (Calcutta), April 3, 2008.
- ^ Jatadur Mone Pare: Rajnaitik Atmakathan by Jyoti Basu; National Book Agency, Calcutta.
- ^ Subir Bhaumik, "Left veteran just wants to retire", BBC News, September 13, 2006.
- ^ "Court notice to Jyoti Basu", The Hindu, January 24, 2006.
| Preceded by Siddhartha Shankar Ray |
Chief Minister of West Bengal 1977–2000 |
Succeeded by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya |
