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| CPI-M patriarch Jyoti Basu passes away |
| Press Trust of India / Kolkata Jan 17, 2010, 14:01 IST |
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Jyoti Basu, who strode the political arena like a colossus for over six decades, died here today of multi-organ failure after being struck by pneumonia 17 days ago.
Left Front chairman Biman Bose, who together with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee rushed to the hospital, broke down while announcing "I have a sad announcement to make. Jyoti Basu is no more with us."
Basu's personal physician Dr Ajit Kumar Maity said that he breathed his last at 11:47 am at the AMRI Hospital where he was admitted with pneumonia on January one.
The former West Bengal Chief Minister was 95 and is survived by son Chandan. His wife Kamal pre-deceased him four years ago.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who was in the city rushed to the hospital, and said "We have just learnt that Jyoti Basu, formally known as Jyoti Babu, has passed away.
"He strode like a colossus on the Indian political scene for several decades. He was a great patriot, a great democrat. He lived a full life," Chidambaram said.
"For the last fortnight, he suffered a lot. The West Bengal government has provided him with the best medical care in the country. We are deeply sad at his passing away.I offer my sincere condolence to his family and the people of West Bengal.
A political legend, Basu became the longest serving chief minister of West Bengal for 23 years from 1997 at the head of CPI-M-headed Left Front government.
Basu had suffered multi-organ failure and was put on a temporary pacemaker late last night.
He had been put on Slow Low Efficiency Daily Dialysis (SLEDD), but it was stopped after he was unable to tolerate it beyond seven-and-a-half hours yesterday.
Basu's son, Chandan, daughter-in-law Rakhi, grand daughters Payel, Doyel and Koyel were at the hospital.
Left Front ministers, Pratim Chatterjee, Kiranmoy Nanda, Sudarshan Roychowdhury, Ranjit Kundu were at AMRI.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, veteran Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghosh and a host of Left Party leaders visited the hospital.
CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat was among other leaders who visited the hospital.
Basu's body will be taken to funeral parlour Peace Haven at 2:00 pm from the hospital, party leader Shyamal Chakraborty said.
He said people were flocking to the hospital after learning of Basu's death. "But there are other patients here who will be inconvenienced if the body is kept here. So we have decided to take his body to Peace Haven."
Other arrangements would be decided later, he said.
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