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It was May 1996. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 13-day government had fallen. A page was about to be turned in the history of the communist movement and the country. Jyoti Basu was on the threshold of becoming the first communist Prime Minister of India. Never before had the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or the CPI(M), got so much attention in national politics. Eight chief ministers, the top leadership of the Congress, all clamouring for Jyoti Basu to accept their offer… the air was electric with possibilities.
The CPI(M)’s central committee met at A K Gopalan Bhavan in Delhi over several
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