Though born in Sylhet (now in Bangladesh), the 'karmabhumi' of veteran CPI leader Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan was Maharashtra for much of his life, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari recalled in their condolence messages today.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis described Bardhan as a leader with an honest mind who fought for the cause of the common man irrespective of the political differences.
Fadnavis, who hails from Nagpur, noted that Bardhan won Assembly election in 1957 from the Nagpur West, the same constituency where the CM won his first Assembly election much later.
"I shared good relations with Bardhan as he hailed from Nagpur," Fadnavis said in his message, adding that the veteran communist leader played an important role in creation of Coffee House Karmchari Sangh in Nagpur.
"Bardhan was a guide for many and I have also lost a guide in his demise," the Chief Minister added.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who also hails from Nagpur, said after his election as BJP president he had met Bardhan at latter's Delhi residence and sought his blessings.
"He would be remembered as an upright union leader who fought for the cause of workers starting from Nagpur and Vidarbha," Gadkari said.
Other leaders from Vidarbha, including former MPs Banwarilal Purohit (BJP) and Vilas Muttemwar (Congress), former minister Madhukar Kimmatkar, advocate Neeraj Khandewal and MSEB Workers Federation president Mohan Sharma, a longtime associate of Bardhan's, also condoled the demise of the leader.
Bardhan was a leading figure of the trade union movement
and Left politics in Maharashtra and was a former member of the Assembly too. He later rose to become the General Secretary and then the President of the All India Trade Union Congress.
From his days as a young trade union activist and fiery orator in Nagpur to being a key player in the Delhi political scene, Bardhan was one of Left's significant leaders.
He was among the Communist luminaries from Maharashtra, including S A Dange, B T Ranadive and Ahilya Rangnekar.
Bardhan was a part of the freedom struggle as a leader in the All India Students Federation. He then associated himself with unions in Nagpur.
He was elected as an independent candidate from Nagpur in the Assembly elections in 1957 (before the formation of Maharashtra state). After losing subsequent elections, he moved to Delhi in the 1990s.
