Of Note
Obituaries
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Jyoti Basu Indian Communist leader
Communist leader Jyoti Basu, 96, who in 1996 came close to becoming India's prime minister, died Jan. 17 in a Calcutta hospital of multiple organ failure, said Biman Bose, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), to which Mr. Basu belonged. He had been ailing for a few months and was hospitalized Jan. 1.
Mr. Basu became chief minister of West Bengal state in 1977 and served for 23 years, making him the longest-serving chief minister in India's political history.
In 1996, a group of parties asked Mr. Basu to lead a coalition government in New Delhi. The Communist Party declined because it did not want to be part of a government in which it would not have a majority. Mr. Basu later described that decision as a "historic blunder."
In his later years, Mr. Basu, a charismatic leader, assumed the role of an elder statesman whose advice and opinion were sought and respected across the political spectrum.
Obituaries
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Jyoti Basu Indian Communist leader
Communist leader Jyoti Basu, 96, who in 1996 came close to becoming India's prime minister, died Jan. 17 in a Calcutta hospital of multiple organ failure, said Biman Bose, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), to which Mr. Basu belonged. He had been ailing for a few months and was hospitalized Jan. 1.
Mr. Basu became chief minister of West Bengal state in 1977 and served for 23 years, making him the longest-serving chief minister in India's political history.
In 1996, a group of parties asked Mr. Basu to lead a coalition government in New Delhi. The Communist Party declined because it did not want to be part of a government in which it would not have a majority. Mr. Basu later described that decision as a "historic blunder."
In his later years, Mr. Basu, a charismatic leader, assumed the role of an elder statesman whose advice and opinion were sought and respected across the political spectrum.
No comments:
Post a Comment