New Delhi, Jan 17 (Inditop.com) Several party leaders, workers and sympathisers of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) gathered at the party headquarters here to pay their tributes to communist patriarch Jyoti Basu who died at Kolkata Sunday morning.
As the news broke, party workers, leaders including politburo members Sitaram Yechury and S. Ramachandran Pillai, activists of the Students Federation of India and other party organisations gathered at A.K. Gopalan Bhavan at Bhai Vir Singh Marg here to pay their tributes to the veteran leader.
“His goal was to provide relief to people and knew what they actually wanted. His absence would be felt,” Yechury told reporters.
Basu, who had a record 23-year stint as chief minister of West Bengal – the longest seen in any Indian state – and almost became the country’s prime minister in 1996, died at 11.47 a.m. at a private hospital at Kolkata 16 days after being admitted for pneumonia. A widower, he is survived by his only son Chandan.
A photograph of Basu was also put up near the reception area for visitors to pay tributes. The party flag at the headquarters was lowered to half mast and party workers donned black bands. The office received a number of condolence calls and messages as the news was received.
Media persons also thronged the headquarters and nearly half of the road was blocked with broadcasting vans.
Sirajuddin, a Delhi university student and SFI member, told IANS: “The nation has lost a great leader who stood for his principles. He was offered to become the prime minister of India, but being a man of principles, he passed the opportunity.”
“We would organise a condolence meeting in the Delhi University in the next few days,” he said.
Another SFI member, Robert Rahman said: “He was a great leader and someone who championed the cause of working class, and peasantry. He was an unmatchable leader.”
