KOLKATA: Former West Bengal chief minister and senior most leader of communist party Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has passed away. He was 80. He died at his residence in Kolkata Thursday morning. He was undergoing treatment for respiratory problems for quite some time. He was on life support after contracting pneumonia.

After serving as an MLA and a state minister, he was elevated to deputy chief minister before Basu stepped down in 2000. As chief minister, he led the CPM to Assembly poll victories in 2001 and 2006. He served as Bengal Chief Minister from 2000 to 2011 succeeding Jyoti Basu. He resigned from party posts citing health issues. He last attended a public event in 2019. In 2001 and 2006 assembly elections, he maintained his rule with a good majority but suffered a heavy defeat in 2011. It was the beginning of CPM’s demise in Bengal.

Buddhadeb was born on March 1 in 1944 in a Bengali Brahmin family in North Kolkata. Buddhadeb was an alumnus of Presidency College in Kolkata. He became the Bengal Secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation in 1968 and became a member of the CPM State Committee in 1971 and a member of the Central Committee in 1985. In 1977, when the Left Front took control of Bengal, he first became a member of the Legislative Assembly from Kossipur. Although defeated in 1987, he won the by-election in the same year and became a minister.

After Jyoti Basu stepped down due to health issues, Buddhadeb took over as Chief Minister in November 2000. Along with this, he became a member of the party politburo. During 2006-11, the acquisition of agricultural land for industries intensified public anger against the Buddhadeb government.

Following this, Buddhadeb and the Left Front lost their footing in Bengal. In the subsequent elections, the CPM was limited to only 40 seats after ruling the state for many years. Buddhadeb was also defeated at Jadavpur.

He is survived by his wife Meera Bhattacharya and son Suchetan Bhattacharya. Buddhadeb and his family led a simple life and lived in a two-room apartment in Kolkata. He used to frequent theaters in Kolkata to watch plays and movies without any trace of authority. Buddhadeb was a person who did not give up communist methods and simplicity even when he was the chief minister and faced setbacks.