Former West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Passes Away at 80

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Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, former Chief Minister of West Bengal and veteran Communist Party leader, passed away at the age of 80 in Ballygunge, Kolkata.

An Overview of the News

• Bhattacharjee was born on March 1, 1944, in Kolkata and served as a significant figure in West Bengal's political landscape.

Political Career

• He served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal in three terms: from 2000 to 2001, 2001 to 2006, and 2006 to 2011.

• Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist) as a primary member in 1966. He was elected to the CPI(M) state committee in 1972 and became a full-time member of CPI(M) in 1985.

• In 1996, he was appointed the Home Minister of West Bengal, and in 1999, he was named the Deputy Chief Minister of West Bengal.

• He first assumed office as the Chief Minister of West Bengal in November 2000, succeeding Jyoti Basu.

• In the 2011 assembly elections, he was defeated by Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress.

Later Years and Awards

• Bhattacharjee resigned from the CPI(M) politburo and central committee in 2015, and in 2018, he gave up his membership in the party's state secretariat.

• The Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for Public Affairs in 2022, but he refused to accept the award.