Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

| image = File:Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in 2006.jpg

| caption = Bhattacharjee in 2006

| order1 = 7th

| office1 = Chief Minister of West Bengal

| predecessor1 = Jyoti Basu

| successor1 = Mamata Banerjee

| term_start1 = 6 November 2000

| term_end1 = 13 May 2011

| office2 = 3rd Deputy Chief Minister of West Bengal

| 1blankname2 = Chief Minister

| 1namedata2 = Jyoti Basu

| term_start2 = 12 January 1999

| term_end2 = 5 November 2000

| predecessor2 = Bijoy Singh Nahar

| successor2 = Vacant

| office9 = Member of Polit Bureau, Communist Party of India (Marxist)

| term_start9 = 2002

| term_end9 = 2015

{{Collapsed infobox section begin|Cabinet Minister, West Bengal

|titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed = yes

| office3 = Minister of Home Affairs & Police

| term_start3 = 1996

| term_end3 = 2011

| office4 = Minister of Information and Culture

| term_start4 = 1987

| term_end4 = 2011

| term_start5 = 1977

| term_end5 = 1982

| office6 = Minister of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs

| term_start6 = 1987

| term_end6 = 1996

}}{{Collapsed infobox section end}}

{{Collapsed infobox section begin|Legislative offices

|titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed = yes

| office7 = Member of Legislative Assembly, West Bengal

| term_start8 = 1977

| term_end8 = 1982

| constituency8 = Cossipur

| predecessor8 = Prafulla Kanti Ghosh

| successor8 = Prafulla Kanti Ghosh

| constituency7 = Jadavpur

| term_start7 = 1987

| term_end7 = 2011

| predecessor7 = Ashok MitraJadavpur (Vidhan Sabha constituency)

| successor7 = Manish Gupta

}}{{Collapsed infobox section end}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1944|3|1|df=y}}

| birth_place = Calcutta, British Raj

| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|8|8|1944|3|1|df=y}}

| death_place = Kolkata, West Bengal, India

| residence = Palm Avenue, Kolkata, India

| alma_mater = Presidency College

| relations = Sukanta Bhattacharya (uncle)

| party = 18px Communist Party of India (Marxist)

| spouse = Meera Bhattacharjee

| children = Suchetan (Born: Suchetana) Bhattacharjee

}}

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (1 March 1944 – 8 August 2024) was an Indian communist politician and a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who served as the 7th Chief Minister of West Bengal from 2000 to 2011. In a political career over five decades, he became one of the senior leaders of Communist 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 the CPI(M), which were primarily anti-capitalist. However, he faced strong land acquisition protests and allegations about violence against the protesters. This led Bhattacharjee to lose the 2011 elections, resulting in the fall of Left Front's 34 years of rule in West Bengal, the world's longest-lasting democratically elected Communist government.

Early life

Bhattacharjee was born in British Raj India on 1 March 1944 in Calcutta to a Bengali Brahmin family. His grandfather, Krishnachandra Smrititirtha was a Sanskrit scholar who had composed a priestly manual named Purohit Darpan, which remains popular with Bengali Hindu Bramins 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.{{Cite web |date=11 May 2011|title=A ritual bond with Buddha|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/a-ritual-bond-with-buddha/cid/392630 |website=www.telegraphindia.com}} Poet Sukanta Bhattacharya was Nepalchandra's cousin. A former student of Sailendra Sircar Vidyalaya, Buddhadeb studied Bengali literature at the Presidency College, Kolkata, and secured his B.A. degree in Bengali (Honours). He then joined Adarsh Shankha Vidya Mandir school at Dum Dum as a teacher.{{Cite web |last=Choudhary |first=Ratnadeep |date=1 March 2019 |title=Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the last Left chief minister of West Bengal |url=https://theprint.in/theprint-profile/buddhadeb-bhattacharya-the-last-left-chief-minister-of-west-bengal/199781/ |access-date=20 August 2023 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=22 August 2011 |title=Buddhadeb Bhattacharya |url=https://www.cpim.org/content/buddhadeb-bhattacharya |access-date=20 August 2023 |website=Communist Party of India (Marxist) |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=rediff.com Profile/Buddhadeb Bhattacharya |url=https://m.rediff.com/news/2000/nov/07budh.htm |access-date=8 August 2024 |website=m.rediff.com}}

Political career

= Initial career (1966–1971) =

Bhattacharjee joined the CPI(M) as a primary member in 1966. Besides taking active part in the food movement, he also supported Vietnam'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 the Democratic Youth Federation of India. He served in the position till 1981, when he was succeeded by Boren Basu. He was mentored by Promode Dasgupta.

= Recognition, election as MLA and ministership (1972–2000) =

Bhattacharjee was elected to the state committee of CPI(M) in 1972 and was inducted in the state secretariat in 1982.

From 1977 to 1982, he was elected as the MLA of Kashipur-Belgachia. Bhattacharjee served as the Minister of Information and Public Relations in the West Bengal Cabinet between 1977 and 1982.

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.

Later, in 1987, he became the MLA of Jadavpur 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.

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 then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu, regarding the functioning of the administration and the alleged issue of corruption.{{Cite web |title=Buddhadev Bhattacharya makes abrupt exit from Left Front government |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/special-report/story/19930930-buddhadev-bhattacharya-makes-abrupt-exit-from-left-front-government-811570-1993-09-29 |access-date=20 August 2023 |website=India Today |date=30 September 1993 |language=en}} Notably, he remarked that Basu's cabinet was a "council of thieves".{{Cite web|url=https://openthemagazine.com/features/india/the-loneliness-of-buddhadeb/|title=The Loneliness of Buddhadeb|date=17 September 2009 }} He returned to the cabinet a few months later.{{Cn|date=August 2024}}

Following the 1996 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.

= Chief Minister of West Bengal (2001–2011) =

File:BuddhadebBabu.jpg

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).{{Cite web |date=10 November 2000 |title=END OF AN ERA |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/article30255350.ece |access-date=20 August 2023 |website=Frontline |language=en}}

Bhattacharjee was elected Chief Minister of West Bengal and was sworn in in a solemn ceremony at Raj Bhawan.{{Cite web |title=Buddhadeb sworn in Bengal CM |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010519/nation.htm |website=The Tribune}} As Chief Minister, he led the CPI(M)-led Left 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.{{Cite journal |last=Ghosh |first=Arunabha |date=2001 |title=West Bengal Assembly Elections, 2001: An Overview |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42753666 |journal=The Indian Journal of Political Science |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=179–187 |jstor=42753666 |issn=0019-5510}}{{Cite web |title=West Bengal voters reward CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya for pursuing investment, goodwill |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20060522-west-bengal-voters-reward-buddhadeb-bhattacharya-for-pursuing-investment-785299-2006-05-21 |access-date=20 August 2023 |website=India Today |date=22 May 2006 |language=en}}

Bhattacharjee's tenure saw major incidents of violence perpetrated by the cadres of the ruling CPI(M) like the Chhoto Angaria massacre, the Netai killings and the Dhantala case. There was also an escalation of Maoist attacks in the state, the most notable being the attack on a police camp at Silda, violence in Lalgarh and the Jnaneswari Express train derailment.{{Cn|date=August 2024}} Bhattacharya himself survived an assassination attempt by Maoists in 2008.{{Cite news |date=2 November 2008 |title=Buddha, Paswan escape landmine blast |url=http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080070919&ch=633612431125153750 |work=NDTV}}

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.{{Cite news |last=Thakur |first=Pradeep |date=24 May 2011 |title=Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee steered West Bengal to 4th position in industrial growth |work=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/buddhadeb-bhattacharjee-steered-west-bengal-to-4th-position-in-industrial-growth/articleshow/8552710.cms?from=mdr |access-date=21 August 2023 |issn=0013-0389}}

Notable among the invited projects was that of the production of the world's cheapest car, the Tata Nano,{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article3164205.ece |title=The Sunday Times |publisher=Timesonline.co.uk |date=13 March 2012 |access-date=11 July 2012 |archive-date=30 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830073930/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article3164205.ece |url-status=dead }} in Singur, a small town near Kolkata. Other notable proposals included the country's largest integrated steel plant in Salboni by the Jindal group. Another notable proposed project was a chemical hub at Nayachar, after it had faced resistance from farmers in Nandigram.{{Cn|date=August 2024}}

However, his plans were perceived negatively, and his party, along with its front partners, suffered heavy losses in the 2009 Indian general election. In the 2011 state assembly election, he was defeated at Jadavpur by the former Chief Secretary of his own government, and the Trinamool congress candidate Manish Gupta by 16,684 votes.{{Cite web |title=The man who beat Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for the first time in 24 years |url=https://www.ndtv.com/assembly/the-man-who-beat-buddhadeb-bhattacharjee-for-the-first-time-in-24-years-455760 |access-date=20 August 2023 |website=NDTV.com}} He became the second West Bengal Chief Minister to lose an election from his own constituency, after Prafulla Chandra Sen in 1967.[http://in.news.yahoo.com/buddhadeb-loses-jadavpore-114750853.html "Buddhadeb loses from Jadavpore"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204060706/https://in.news.yahoo.com/buddhadeb-loses-jadavpore-114750853.html |date=4 December 2014 }}, Yahoo! News, 13 May 2011. The Left Front saw a drubbing, securing just 62 seats out of 294. He resigned as Chief Minister on 13 May 2011.{{Cn|date=August 2024}}

Singur Tata Nano controversy and Nandigram violence

Events during his tenure as Chief Minister included attempts to industrialize West Bengal thwarted by the TATA's Tata Motors leaving Bengal in the face of the joint protests of the Trinamool Congress,[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/west-bengal-polls-buddhadeb-bhattacharjee-has-himself-to-blame/1/138126.html "WB polls: Buddha has himself to blame for Left-front's loss"], India Today, 14 May 2011. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517045314/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/west-bengal-polls-buddhadeb-bhattacharjee-has-himself-to-blame/1/138126.html |date=17 May 2011 }} Socialist Unity Centre of India, and Indian National Congress,{{Cite web|last=India|first=One|date=3 December 2006|title=BJP President Rajnath to visit Singur tomorrow|url=https://www.oneindia.com/2006/12/03/bjp-president-rajnath-to-visit-singur-tomorrow-1165160142.html|access-date=14 December 2020|archive-date=19 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619093210/https://www.oneindia.com/2006/12/03/bjp-president-rajnath-to-visit-singur-tomorrow-1165160142.html|url-status=live}} the land acquisition dispute in Singur, the Nandigram incident,[http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/exit-buddhadeb-man-who-saw-beyond-ideological-convictions/articleshow/8316619.cms " Exit Buddhadeb, man who saw beyond ideological convictions"], The Economic Times, 14 May 2011. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019005638/http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/exit-buddhadeb-man-who-saw-beyond-ideological-convictions/articleshow/8316619.cms |date=19 October 2012 }} and the Netai incident.[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/CPM-pays-for-Netai--suffers-losses-in-Junglemahal/790753/ " CPM pays for Netai, suffers losses in Junglemahal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729141007/https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/cpm-pays-for-netai-suffers-losses-in-junglemahal/ |date=29 July 2023 }}, Indian Express, 14 May 2011.

In January 2006 the Supreme Court of India issued notices to Left Front Government ministers including Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and others in relation to land allotments made in the Salt Lake City township in Kolkata.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070314084023/http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/24/stories/2006012405351200.htm "Court notice to Jyoti Basu"], The Hindu, 24 January 2006.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's Government came under heavy criticism for police action against demonstrators in Nandigram in East Midnapore. He was criticized not only by opposition parties (such as the Trinamool Congress, INC, PDS, BJP, CPI(ML)L, CRLI and others) and other Left Front coalition allies like CPI, RSP and AIFB, 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.Subir Bhaumik, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6457035.stm "India strike over police shooting"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070319181920/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6457035.stm |date=19 March 2007 }}, BBC News, 16 March 2007. 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."[https://web.archive.org/web/20070325180555/http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/16/stories/2007031609061400.htm "Deaths in violence unfortunate, says Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee"], The Hindu, 16 March 2007. Actually Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee declared that land in Nandigram wouldn't be acquired by ordering the Nandigram notification to be torn apart.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/16/stories/2007031609061400.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070325180555/http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/16/stories/2007031609061400.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 March 2007 |title=National : Deaths in violence unfortunate, says Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee |date=16 March 2007 |work=The Hindu |access-date=11 July 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.rxpgnews.com/business/Tear-apart-Nandigram-notification-Buddhadeb-_printer.shtml |title=Tear apart Nandigram notification: Buddhadeb |publisher=Rxpgnews.com |access-date=11 July 2012 |archive-date=21 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721211240/http://www.rxpgnews.com/business/Tear-apart-Nandigram-notification-Buddhadeb-_printer.shtml |url-status=live }} Still police were not allowed to enter Nandigram. Roads were dug up, preventing administration from entering the area.

The CPI(M) declared that they were totally behind Bhattacharjee and had drawn up "plans" to placate his critics in the Left Front.Subrata Nagchoudhury, [http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/25999.html "Party stands by Buddha, gets restive allies to fall in line"], indianexpress.com, 18 March 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017191927/http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/25999.html |date=17 October 2007 }} 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.{{Need Citation|date=August 2024}}

Electoral history

Bhattacharjee was elected as Member of Legislative Assembly from Cossipur (Vidhan Sabha constituency) once and from Jadavpur (Vidhan Sabha constituency) for five consecutive terms.

class="wikitable"

!Election

Year

!Office

Held

!Constituency

!Party Affiliation

! Result

1977

|Member of the legislative assembly

|Cossipur

|Communist Party of India (Marxist)

| style="background:#00FF80"|Won

1982

|Member of the legislative assembly

|Cossipur

|Communist Party of India (Marxist)

|style="background:#FF6666"|Lost

1987

|Member of the legislative assembly

|Jadavpur

|Communist Party of India (Marxist)