Basu gets solemn farewell in final journey

Jyoti Basu remained as popular in death, as he was when alive. The Marxist patriarch’s far-reaching appeal ensured that the country’s political establishment, irrespective of party affiliations, paid its last respects to him on Tuesday, save Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.

Among the prominent personalities who paid homage to the departed CPI(M) leader included United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Nitin Gadkari, former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren. Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) were also present.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, too, returned to India just for Basu, days after her visit to the country.

From the industry, ITC chairman YC Deveshwar and Peerless Group MD S K Roy paid homage to the Marxist patriarch.

However, it was the sheer magnitude of the former West Bengal chief minister’s popularity among the masses that almost marred his final tryst with his erstwhile electorate. For a leader whose legend was partly built on his innate ability to manage crowds, the CPI(M) and the state administration floundered in handling the swelling crowd of mourners who came for a last glimpse of Basu.

At about 3 pm, South Kolkata resident Harani Mistry lay writhing in pain on the lawns before the Assembly House, as Kerela Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan stepped on the makeshift dais, where his deceased comrade lay.

After a two-hour wait, Mistry had been pushed against the South-West gate of the premises as swelling crowds rushed through smaller individual entrances. For the tens of thousands of ‘non-VIPs’, these two small openings within this gate were the only access route available.

Once inside, those who formed the serpentine queue, which passed before the flower-bedecked body of Basu, nothing was more important than a clear sight of the former Communist helmsman. Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu was seemingly stunned when the impassioned crowd heckled him to move away, as he was standing between them and Basu’s body.

Indeed, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Salim faced the agitated crowds with folded hands more than once, as a constant stream of visitors through the VIP route inundated the dais thereby, denying the passing queue of even a glance at Basu.

Raised fisted, the Marxist salute, and slogans steadily drowned out the piped sitar chords that played endlessly in the background, even as Brinda Karat, the ‘first lady’ of the CPI(M), looked on at the ensuing chaos below.

With the Assembly House finally closing its gates, turning back hundred mourners who continued to queue, the Army took custody of Basu’s body before proceeding for a 21-gun salute. As the cortège proceeded, thousands accompanied the country’s longest-serving chief minister on his final journey.

“Long live Comrade Jyoti Basu,” they shouted.