Former West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee dies
International Desk
Former West Bengal chief minister and senior (CPI) leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee died on Thursday at his south Kolkata residence at the age of 80, CPI(M) state secretary Mohd Salim said.
Buddhaeb was suffering from old age-related ailments. He is survived by his wife Mira and daughter Suchetana.
Buddhadeb, who succeeded Jyoti Basu as chief minister in the year 2000, had helmed the West Bengal government till May 2011 before the Left Front government was voted out of power after a 34-year unbroken rule.
Buddhadeb quit from CPI(M) politburo and central committee in 2015 and gave up membership of the party's state secretariat three years later. He stayed away from public life and remained confined to his house in Palm Avenue in Ballygunj.
It was the Bhattacharjee government’s land acquisition policy that spurred current chief minister Mamata Banerjee street protests and agitations which eventually brought her to power in the assembly elections in May, 2011.
