Jyoti Basu
Jyoti Basu (born Jyotirindra Basu; 8 July 1914 – 17 January 2010)[2] was an Indian Marxist theorist, communist activist, and politician. He was one of the most prominent leaders of Communist movement in India.[3][4] He served as the 6th and longest serving Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000.[5][6][7] He was one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was the member of Politburo of the party since its formation in 1964 till 2008. He was also the member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly 11 times.[8] In his political career, spanning over seven decades, he was noted to have been the India's longest serving chief minister in an elected democracy, at the time of his resignation.[9][a] He was proposed for the post of Prime Minister of India for four times.
For other uses, see Jyoti Basu (disambiguation).
Jyoti Basu
New constituency
New constituency
Vacant
Office established
Vacant
Office disbanded
Railway Employees
17 January 2010 (aged 95)
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (1964–2010)
Communist Party of India (1940–1964)
Chandan Basu
Before 1947 and independence movement[edit]
On returning to Calcutta, India in early 1940,[24] Basu enrolled as a barrister at the Calcutta High Court,[15] and married Basanti Ghosh.[25][5] However, in the same year, he also inducted himself as an activist affiliated to the Communist Party of India (CPI).[24][18] His entry into the communist movement at the time had reportedly been in opposition to the wishes of his relatively well off family.[18][26] Following the Meerut conspiracy in 1929, the Communist Party had also been made illegal by British authorities,[11][27] as a result Basu was initially involved in providing liaison and safe houses for underground Communist leaders in the Independence movement.[18][15] However soon afterwards, he also became involved in organising railway workers, planning strikes and is described to have preferred direct action over ballot box in the initial years.[26][28]
In 1941, Basu was appointed as the party secretary of the Bengal Assam Railway (now Bangladesh Railway and Northeast Frontier Railway) and tasked with organising a workers union.[18] By May 1943, he had become the representative of the Calcutta Port Engineering Worker's Union in the All India Trade Union Congress,[29][30] while the Bengal Assam Railway Workers Union under him increased its membership to over 4,000 with union members present in Dacca, Calcutta, Kanchrapara, Mymensingh, Rangpur and Assam.[31]
In the following Bengal famine of 1943, the members of the Communist Party including Basu were involved in famine relief work.[15][32] The party also organised "People's Food Committees" which would attempt to force hoarders into releasing their stocks for distribution; Basu participated in the organisation of such committees in Calcutta and Midnapore.[33][32] According to Basu's testimony, they only had a small organisation at the time and did the best they could while the famine took the lives of over 3 million people.[34] Basu was elected to the Bengal provincial committee of the Communist Party in the same year.[18] He would later participate in the Tebhaga movement between 1945 and 1947 that sought to end the food crisis in Bengal, in a supportive capacity as a railway unionist.[35]
By 1944, Basu had started leading the trade union activities of the Communist Party.[36] He was again delegated to organise labourers working for the East Indian Railway Company (now Eastern Railway and East Central Railway) in order to further the interests of the Indian workers and is described to have been instrumental in the formation of the Bengal Nagpur Railway (now South Eastern Railway, East Coast Railway and South East Central Railway) Worker's Union of which he became the general secretary.[11][15] With the merger of the Bengal Nagpur Railway Worker's Union and the Bengal Delhi Railroad Worker's Union in the same year, Basu was elected the general secretary of the new combined union.[2][14] He would also be elected as the secretary of the All India Railwaymen's Federation.[37]
In 1946, Basu was appointed by the Communist Party to contest as the candidate for the Railway Employee's constituency in the Bengal Legislative Assembly.[38] He subsequently defeated Humayun Kabir of the Indian National Congress and was elected to the assembly.[39][40] He is noted to have given a "soul stirring speech" on the presiding food crisis in the Bengal Assembly;[39] according to him the only means of solving the issue was to completely dismantle the Zamindari system and the Permanent Settlement agreement, and to drive out the British with haste.[41] Basu had also organised a continuous railway strike in support of the 1946 Royal Indian Navy ratings revolt,[42][34] and later secured the release of various political prisoners on 24 July 1946.[28][30]
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (1964 afterwards)[edit]
Split from the Communist Party of India (1962–1966)[edit]
In the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election of 1962, Basu was once again re-elected as the representative of the Baranagar constituency and the Communist Party increased its vote share from 17.81% to 24.96%.[61][70][15] In the following period the Communist Party underwent a vertical split with a section of the party including Basu going on to form the Communist Party of India (Marxist). There were several ongoing ideological conflicts between sections within the Communist Party about the nature of the Indian State and the characterisation and method of interaction with the Indian National Congress, about the approach towards the ongoing debate between the Soviet Union and China and with regards to the handling of the border disputes between India and China.[15][71] These debates were further exacerbated by the food movement in West Bengal and brought to the forefront by the rising border tensions between India and China.[69][72] The Communist Party had also become the second largest party in the Lok Sabha following the 1962 Indian general election with nearly 10% vote share which is described to have brought prominence to the internal divisions of the party.[73][72]
The party was broadly divided into two sections namely the National Front (referred to as the "rightist section") and the Democratic Front (referred to as the "leftist section").[15][71] Basu belonging to the latter advocated for radical change to supplant the domination of big landlords, capitalists and monopolists in the Indian polity and opposed any conditional support for Nehruvian policies while denouncing the "revisionist position" taken by the former to support Jawaharlal Nehru on certain issues.[74][72] The militant food movement in West Bengal also emboldened the leftist anti-Congress section to overwhelm the rightist section which sought tactical cooperation with the Indian National Congress.[69] On the other hand, with the flare-up of the Sino-Indian War, the leftist section of the Communist Party was portrayed as "pro–china" by their opponents from both within and outside the party.[75][76] Before the outbreak of the war, the section had taken the stance that dialogue and diplomatic partnership with the Chinese would resolve the disputes, however Basu himself was more sceptical and advocated for the adoption of a twin strategy of maintaining the border outposts inside Tibet and then engaging in talks using the outposts as a form of leverage ahead of any commencement on a new treaty.[77][78]
The leftist section continued to oppose the Chinese stand on the India-China frontier but was also opposed to providing unconditional support to the Nehru government because of its "class character" contrary to the rightist section which had declared outright support for the central government.[76] This stance of the leftist section came as dissatisfactory to the Nehru government which had imposed a state of national emergency and introduced the Defence of India Ordinance, 1962, and henceforth utilised them to imprison various opposition leaders and activists as well as Chinese Indian citizens.[79][71] Basu was imprisoned among other major communist leaders such as the former chief minister of Kerala, E. M. S. Namboodiripad, the organisational specialist Promode Dasgupta, the founding leader of Communist Party of India (Marxist), Hare Krishna Konar, the Indian revolutionary freedom fighter, Benoy Choudhury, the Telangana revolutionaries, Puchalapalli Sundarayya and Makineni Basavapunnaiah as well as some members of the rightist section such as the trade unionist A. B. Bardhan.[80][72][15] Basu reportedly received the news of his father's death during this time in prison.[15] Although, the war ended in November 1962, the detainees were only released in December 1963 after an order from the Supreme Court of India.[79]
On 11 April 1964, in a landmark incident, 32 members from the "Leftist faction" in the CPI national council including Basu walked out of a meeting in Delhi with the stated intent of forming the "real communist party".[81][71] The section organised their conference in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh which concluded with a resolution to form a new party and in the seventh congress held between 31 October to 7 November in Calcutta, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was formally founded. Basu was elected to the first politburo of the new party being one of the nine founding members commonly referred to as the Navaratnas (trans: nine gems).[81] On 27 June 1965, Basu also became the founding editor of the English language organ of the new party called People's Democracy.[82][74]
Proposal for Prime-ministership[edit]
Jyoti Basu was proposed for the post of prime minister for four times.[164]
In 1990, following the arrest of Lal Krishna Advani, BJP declined support to the National Front Government led by V. P. Singh. During the political crisis, INC chief Rajiv Gandhi sent proposal to Jyoti Basu to be the Prime Minister of India. But CPI(M) declined it.[164]
After 7 months, INC declined support to the Chandrasekhar Singh Government. Again Rajiv Gandhi sent a proposal to Jyoti Basu, which was declined for second time.[164]
In the Indian general election in 1996, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee emerged as the largest party, with 161 of 543 seats but the government fell 13 days later,[165] due to unavailability of majority at the parliament. The Indian National Congress (INC), with a substantial 140 seats, declined to head the government.
Consequently, along with Janata Dal as the head, the left parties (i.e. CPI(M), CPI) and other smaller parties like Samajwadi Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Asom Gana Parishad, Tamil Maanila Congress, and Telugu Desam Party formed the United Front, which was supported by INC from outside. About the selection of Prime Minister from United Front, Vishwanath Pratap Singh from Janata Dal rejected the proposal of being Prime Minister. He suggested that Basu should be made the Prime Minister of the United Front government. RJD's chief Lalu Prasad Yadav also supported the proposal.[166] The CPI also supported the proposal.[167] The proposal was taken to CPI(M) by former CPI(M) General Secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet. The Polit Bureau of CPI(M) met in a meeting. But having no conclusion due to differences, it forwarded the issue to the Central Committee after a voting. Through a meeting in Central Committee on May 14,[168] CPI(M) declined the offer saying the party was still not in a position to dictate its policies and would not be able to get them implemented by a coalition government. They also stated that it would involve joining hands with “bourgeois” outfits like the Congress.[169][167] Sitaram Yechury was among the leaders who were against Basu being the Prime Minister. When Surjeet conveyed this to United Front leaders, V. P. Singh again suggested that the CPI(M) should reconsider the decision. From Tamil Nadu House, Surjeet called Prakash Karat to tell leaders to stay back for an emergency meeting. But the Central Committee again turned down that offer.[169] After Basu, the names of late G. K. Moopanar and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi came over but Basu suggested H. D. Deve Gowda for the top post citing his experience as a minister first and Chief Minister of Karnataka and Janata Dal accepted the offer and he was elected as the Prime Minister of India.[169] H.D Deve Gowda personally wrote a letter to Jyoti Basu to be the prime minister which Basu declined again due to party choices.
In 1999, the BJP Government by Atal Bihari Vajpayee fell down. Leaders of third front including Mulayam Singh Yadav and others again suggested Jyoti Basu. This time CPI(M) eventually agreed to the proposal. But INC declined.[164]
Later when asked about the decision of the CPI(M), Jyoti Basu stated that as a "historic blunder".[170][171] In the words of Basu, "yes, I still think that it was a historic blunder because such an opportunity does not come. History does not give such an opportunity."[169][166] Noted Congress politician Arjun Singh was also upset due to the CPI(M)'s decision.[172][173] The CPI said that Jyoti Basu as Prime Minister was ‘worth-trying’.[167]
Prime Minister of India
Personal life[edit]
Jyoti Basu had married twice. His first wife Basanti died within 2 years of their marriage in 1942.[11][25] In 1948, he married Kamala Basu, who died on 1 October 2003. Together, they had only one son, Subhabrata (alias Chandan), who was born in 1952. Unlike his father, Chandan has no association with either politics or communism & is a businessman by profession. Chandan has been hounded by allegations levied by the both Congress & Trinamool Congress of being a beneficiary of nepotism, which he has denied repeatedly.[206][207] In 1988, RSP leader Jatindra Chandra Chakraborty was forced to step down from his position as PWD Minister by CPI(M) following him raising allegations of nepotism against Jyoti Basu [208] in what became known as the 'Bengal Lamp Scam' (in which he revealed financial irregulatites on part of Chief Minister Basu assigning a consignment of streetlights to a Jadavpur based loss-making firm called 'Bengal Lamp' where his son Chandan was employed at that time).[209]
Although being an atheist & a stauch communist, Basu never interfered with the religious freedom of his second wife Kamala, who was described by her son Chandan to be a deeply religious woman.[210]
After joining the CPI, Basu had been disinherited by his father from their residence at 55A, Hindusthan Park in Gariahat locality of South Kolkata, so he lived in the houses of his friends. After becoming chief minister, Basu lived in a guest house owned by the state government in Bidhannagar.[211]
Recognition[edit]
An admirer of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Karl Marx,[212] Jyoti Basu is regarded as one of the most successful politicians in India.[213] His reign of 23 years in West Bengal as the Chief Minister was counted as the longest serving chief minister in India until this record was broken by Pawan Kumar Chamling in 2018.[214]
In 2010, Rajarhat New Town was named after Jyoti Basu as "Jyoti Basu Nagar" in the presence of then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.[215]
The Government of Bangladesh created 201-member "Comrade Jyoti Basu Nagarik Sangsad" in the name of Basu, featuring Chief Justice of Bangladesh Supreme Court Muhammad Habibur Rahman as Convener.[216][217]
A research institute has been named after Jyoti Basu naming "Jyoti Basu Centre of Social Studies and Research" in Newtown, West Bengal.[218]
In popular culture[edit]
Centre of Indian Trade Unions along with Haldia Regional Committee released an album on Jyoti Basu in 2000.
In 2005, Gautam Ghosh made a documentary film named "Jyoti Basur Sange" (trans. A journey with Jyoti Basu"), which was screened at Nandan on 31 April 2005 and at another auditorium in Memari.[227] The film tracks Basu's childhood days in Bangladesh, student life in London and political career in Calcutta. The writer Goutam Ghose trailed Jyoti Basu for eight years, from 1997 to 2004, across campaigns and countries for making the documentary.[228]
In 2006, a CD collection was released, based on the interviews with Jyoti Basu, named "Antaranga Jyoti Basu".