Jyoti Basu remained as popular in death, as he was when alive. The Marxist leader's far-reaching appeal ensured that the country's political establishment, irrespective of party affiliations, paid their last respects to the CPI(M) patriarch on Tuesdsay, save Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, BJP's 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 were present, apart from the CPI(M)'s Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechury. Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina, too, returned to India just for Basu, days after returning to Dhaka after a state visit here.
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 its handling of the lakhs of people who came for their last glimpse of Basu. At about 3 pm, South Kolkata resident Harani Mistry lay writhing in pain on the lawns before the Assembly House, just as Kerela chief minister stepped on the makeshift dais, where his deceased comrade lay.
After a two hour wait, Mistry had been pushed hard against the South-West gate of the premises as swelling crowds rushed through smaller individual entrances. For the lakhs of 'non-VIPs', these two small openings within this gate were the only access route available.
Once inside, for 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 Md Salim faced the agitated crowds with folded hands more than once, as a constant stream of visitors through the VIP route inundated the dias thereby, denying the passing queue of even a glance at Basu.
Slogans, accompanied by raised fists, the Marxist salute, 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 hundreds 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.
