Former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya passed away. He was the second and last Chief Minister of West Bengal during the 34-year Left Front rule. He was 80 years old at the time of his death. Buddhadev Bhattacharya was the Chief Minister of the state for 11 consecutive years from 2000 to 2011.
His son Suchetan Bhattacharya confirmed the news of Buddhadev’s death on Thursday (August 8) morning. He said that his father fell ill after having breakfast in the morning. He died at 8:20 a.m. at his home on Palm Avenue.
It is known that Buddhadev’s breathing problem increased last Wednesday night. Then he was supposed to be admitted to the hospital on Thursday itself. But Buddhadev fell ill again from Thursday morning.
On August 9, 2023, Buddhadev returned home after recovering from the hospital. On July 29 that year, he was admitted to a private hospital in South Kolkata’s Alipore in critical condition. At that time, the doctors kept him on ventilation (invasive) support for several days.
He was suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for a long time. Due to illness, he was practically under house arrest for the last few years. Had to be admitted to the hospital several times before. In December 2020, Buddhadev was admitted to the hospital with severe breathing problems. At that time, he had to be kept on ventilation for a few days. He returned home safely from there.
In the middle of May 2021, he was infected with Covid. As the condition worsened, he was admitted to the hospital on May 18. At the same time, his wife Meera Bhattacharya was also infected with Corona. Meera was admitted to the same hospital. Both returned Covid negative within days.
On January 25, 2022, Buddhadev made headlines by rejecting the Padma Bhushan. Although the central government nominated his name, he refused to accept the honour.
The last five years of Buddhadev’s 11-year rule were a busy period in Bengal politics from many aspects. All this political heat was around his industrialization policy. The very method of acquiring land for the industrialization which Buddhadeva advocated removed the land from under Buddhadeva’s feet. After winning 235 seats in 2006, the Chief Minister faced a miserable defeat five years later. In 2011, 34 and a half years of continuous Left rule came to an end in West Bengal.
