Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| বুদ্ধদেব ভট্টাচার্য | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Bhattacharjee in 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7th Chief Minister of West Bengal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 November 2000 – 13 May 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jyoti Basu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Mamata Banerjee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3rdDeputy Chief Minister of West Bengal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 January 1999 – 5 November 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chief Minister | Jyoti Basu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Bijoy Singh Nahar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Vacant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Polit Bureau,Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2002 – 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1944-03-01)1 March 1944 Calcutta,Bengal Province,British India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 8 August 2024(2024-08-08) (aged 80) Kolkata,West Bengal, India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party |  Communist Party of India (Marxist) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Meera Bhattacharjee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Sukanta Bhattacharya (uncle) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | Suchetan (Born: Suchetana) Bhattacharjee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence(s) | Palm Avenue, Kolkata, India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Presidency College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (1 March 1944 – 8 August 2024) was an Indiancommunist politician and a member of thePolitburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who served as the 7thChief Minister of West Bengal from 2000 to 2011. In a political career over five decades, he became one of the senior leaders ofCommunist Party of India (Marxist) during his regime.
Bhattacharjee was known for his relatively open policies regarding business, in contrast with the previous financial policies of theCPI(M), which were primarilyanti-capitalist. However, he faced strong land acquisition protests and allegations about violence against the protesters. This led Bhattacharjee to lose the2011 elections, resulting in the fall ofLeft Front's 34 years of rule inWest Bengal, the world's longest-lasting democratically electedCommunist government.
Bhattacharjee was born on 1 March 1944 in North Kolkata to aBengali Brahmin family. His grandfather, Krishnachandra Smrititirtha was a Sanskrit scholar who had composed a priestly manual namedPurohit Darpan, which remains popular withBengali Hindu priests in West Bengal. Buddhadeb's father, Nepalchandra, did not enter into the priesthood and was involved with the family publication, Saraswat Library, devoted to selling Hindu religious material.[2] PoetSukanta Bhattacharya was Nepalchandra's cousin. A former student ofSailendra Sircar Vidyalaya, Buddhadeb studied Bengali literature at thePresidency College, Kolkata, and secured his B.A. degree in Bengali (Honours). He then joined Adarsh Shankha Vidya Mandir school atDum Dum as a teacher.[3][4][5]
Bhattacharjee joined the CPI(M) as a primary member in 1966. Besides taking active part in the food movement, he also supportedVietnam's cause in 1968. In 1968, he was elected as the state secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation, the youth wing of the CPI(M), that was later merged into theDemocratic Youth Federation of India. He served in the position till 1981, when he was succeeded by Boren Basu. He was mentored byPromode Dasgupta.[3][4]
Bhattacharjee was elected to the state committee of CPI(M) in 1972 and was inducted in the state secretariat in 1982.[3][4]
From 1977 to 1982, he was elected as theMLA ofKashipur-Belgachia. Bhattacharjee served as the Minister of Information and Public Relations in the West Bengal Cabinet between 1977 and 1982.[4]
In 1982, he lost the assembly elections from Cossipur constituency in 1982 by a slender margin. He was made a permanent invitee to the central committee of CPI(M) in 1984 and was made a member in 1985.[3]
Later, in 1987, he became the MLA ofJadavpur and continued to represent the constituency till 2011. He was re-inducted in the cabinet in 1987 as the Minister of Information and Cultural Affairs. He also held departments of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs.[3][4]
He was included in the cabinet in 1991 as a minister, with the portfolios of Information and Cultural Affairs and Urban Development and Municipal Affairs. However, he abruptly resigned from his position in September 1993, following differences with thenChief Minister of West Bengal,Jyoti Basu, regarding the functioning of the administration and the alleged issue of corruption.[6] Notably, he remarked that Basu's cabinet was a "council of thieves".[7] He returned to the cabinet a few months later.[citation needed]
Following the1996 West Bengal election, Bhattacharjee was handed the responsibility of the home and police department, owing to the declining health of the elderly Chief Minister Basu. In 1999, he was made the Deputy Chief minister of West Bengal.
On 6 November 2000, he was elevated to the position of Chief Minister after Basu's resignation. In 2002, he was elected to the politburo of CPI(M).[8]
Bhattacharjee was elected Chief Minister of West Bengal and was sworn in in a solemn ceremony at Raj Bhawan.[9] As Chief Minister, he led the CPI(M)-ledLeft Front to two successive election victories in 2001 and 2006. In 2001, the Left Front secured 199 out of 294 assembly seats and in 2006, it improved the tally to 235 out of 294 seats.[10][11]
Bhattacharjee's tenure saw major incidents of violence perpetrated by the cadres of the ruling CPI(M) like theChhoto Angaria massacre, theNetai killings and theDhantala case. There was also an escalation ofMaoist attacks in the state, the most notable being theattack on a police camp at Silda,violence in Lalgarh and theJnaneswari Express train derailment.[citation needed] Bhattacharya himself survived an assassination attempt by Maoists in 2008.[12]
Bhattacharjee started an industrialization drive in West Bengal to bring in more investment and jobs in the states. Under his government, West Bengal saw investments in the IT and services sector.[13]
Notable among the invited projects was that of the production of the world's cheapest car, theTata Nano,[14] inSingur, a small town near Kolkata. Other notable proposals included the country's largest integrated steel plant inSalboni by the Jindal group. Another notable proposed project was achemical hub atNayachar, after it had faced resistance from farmers inNandigram.[citation needed]
However, his plans were perceived negatively, and his party, along with its front partners, suffered heavy losses in the2009 Indian general election. In the2011 state assembly election, he was defeated atJadavpur by the formerChief Secretary of his own government, and theTrinamool congress candidate Manish Gupta by 16,684 votes.[15] He became the secondWest Bengal Chief Minister to lose an election from his own constituency, afterPrafulla Chandra Sen in 1967.[16] The Left Front saw a drubbing, securing just 62 seats out of 294. He resigned as Chief Minister on 13 May 2011.[citation needed]
Events during his tenure as Chief Minister included attempts to industrialize West Bengal thwarted by theTATA'sTata Motors leavingBengal in the face of the joint protests of theTrinamool Congress,[17]Socialist Unity Centre of India, andIndian National Congress,[18] theland acquisition dispute inSingur, theNandigram incident,[19] and the Netai incident.[20]
In January 2006 theSupreme Court of India issued notices to Left Front Government ministers including Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and others in relation to land allotments made in theSalt Lake City township inKolkata.[21]
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's Government came under heavy criticism forpolice action against demonstrators in Nandigram in East Midnapore. He was criticized not only by opposition parties (such as theTrinamool Congress,INC,PDS,BJP,CPI(ML)L,CRLI and others) and other Left Front coalition allies likeCPI,RSP andAIFB, who threatened to back out from the ministry on this issue, but also by his mentor and the state's former chief minister,Jyoti Basu.
On 15 March 2007, Basu criticized Bhattacharjee for failing to restrain the police in Nandigram.[22] Bhattacharjee expressed regret for the shootings, but claimed that he permitted police action because Nandigram was an "area where there had been no rule of law and no presence of an administration for not one, two or 10 days but for two-and-a-half months, and many hundreds of villagers left Nandigram, and took shelter in a state relief camp outside Nandigram."[23] Actually Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee declared that land in Nandigram wouldn't be acquired by ordering the Nandigram notification to be torn apart.[24][25] Still police were not allowed to enter Nandigram. Roads were dug up, preventing administration from entering the area.[24]
The CPI(M) declared that they were totally behind Bhattacharjee and had drawn up "plans" to placate his critics in the Left Front.[26] His government was also criticized by Left supporters for failing to protect the Left party workers (including his own party CPI(M)) who came under assault from political opponents - both right wing and ultra-left wing Maoists during the post-Nandigram turmoil until the end of 7th Left Front Government.[citation needed]
Bhattacharjee was elected asMember of Legislative Assembly fromCossipur (Vidhan Sabha constituency) once and fromJadavpur (Vidhan Sabha constituency) for five consecutive terms.
Despite his calls to be relieved of party responsibilities, Bhattacharjee was retained as a member of the Politburo and the Central Committee in the 20th party congress, organised at Kozhikode in 2012.[27]
He was relieved of his posts on thePolit Bureau and Central Committee at the 21st party congress, organised at Vishakhapatnam in 2015.[28] The party congress elected him as a special invitee to the Central Committee. However, he was persuaded to remain a member of the state committee and the state secretariat till 2018. In 2018, due to continuing ill-health he stepped down from the state committee and the state secretariat.[29] He was later named as a special invitee to the state committee. In 2019, he made an attempt to attend a mega-rally at Brigade Parade ground in Kolkata, however, due to breathing difficulties he could not appear on the stage and remained seated in his car.[30]
In January 2022, theGovernment of India awarded Bhattacharjee with thePadma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India. However, he declined the award and claimed that he had not been informed about the award. He said a call was made to his residence earlier in the day, while adding there is no provision of taking consent for giving Padma awards.[31][32][33][34][35]
Bhattacharjee was married to Meera Bhattacharjee. Together, they had a child who underwentgender surgery and is now known as Suchetan Bhattacharjee.[36] Bhattacharjee was renowned for his frugal lifestyle. He was also a scholar widely read and had acquaintance with literature of the world. Was fond of dogs and had several pets during his lifetime. Was also seen feeding and petting the stray dogs in his locality quite often. He was an inveterate music lover and quite knowledgeable about Indian classical music. He also had a quiet and quite unexpected sense of humour. The family lived in a two-room apartment inBallygunge, Kolkata. Bhattacharjee operated as Chief Minister from the same residence.[37] Although belonging to a family of priests, Bhattacharjee was an avowed atheist, in accordance with the principles of communism.[2]
Bhattacharjee died fromchronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Kolkata, on 8 August 2024, at the age of 80.[38][39]
Media related toBuddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Wikimedia Commons| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Chief Minister of West Bengal 2000–2011 | Succeeded by |