West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today remembered former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu on his seventh death anniversary.
Basu, the longest serving chief minister of West Bengal, had passed away on January 17, 2010. The communist leader had served as the chief minister from 1997 to 2000.
"Solemnly remembering former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu on his death anniversary," Banerjee wrote on her Twitter handle this morning.
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Basu, who was born on July 8, 1914, had led the Marxists to power for five consecutive times in West Bengal.
His early associates included the veteran British Communists Harry Pollitt, Rajani Palme Dutt and Ben Bradley. In London, he had joined the India League and the Federation of Indian Students in Great Britain.
On returning to India, Basu joined the then undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) and in 1944, three years before the British Raj ended, started working among railway workers.
When the CPI split in 1964 parallel to the Sino-Soviet break-up, Basu became one of the nine founding politburo members of the CPI-M.
Even after relinquishing office as chief minister in 2000, Basu had played a role in the CPI-M and national politics till repeated bouts of illness finally took its toll.
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