Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the former Chief Minister of West Bengal and senior Communist leader, has died at the age of 80. He passed away at his home in Ballygunge, Kolkata, at 8:20 a.m. on Thursday. He is survived by his wife Mira and daughter Suchetana.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary Mohammed Salim confirmed the news. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her sadness at Bhattacharjee’s “sudden demise.”
Bhattacharjee, who turned 80 in March, had been struggling with age-related health issues and had been hospitalized several times. He served as Chief Minister from 2000 to 2011, succeeding Jyoti Basu, and was the last Left Chief Minister of Bengal. His tenure saw significant unrest over land acquisition issues, culminating in the 2011 Assembly election loss to Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, ending a 34-year Left rule in the state.
He retired from the CPI(M) politburo in 2015 and left the party’s state secretariat in 2018. In recent years, Bhattacharjee lived a reclusive life in his government flat in South Kolkata. His last public appearance was in 2019, when he attended a rally with oxygen support.
