31 Facts About Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was an Indian communist politician and a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India, who served as the 7th Chief Minister of West Bengal from 2000 to 2011.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was born in British Raj India on 1 March 1944 in Calcutta to a Bengali Brahmin family.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's 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 Bhattacharjee then joined Adarsh Shankha Vidya Mandir school at Dum Dum as a teacher.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee joined the CPI as a primary member in 1966.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee served in the position till 1981, when he was succeeded by Boren Basu.

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

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee served as the Minister of Information and Public Relations in the West Bengal Cabinet between 1977 and 1982.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was made a permanent invitee to the central committee of CPI in 1984 and was made a member in 1985.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was re-inducted in the cabinet in 1987 as the Minister of Information and Cultural Affairs.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee held departments of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was included in the cabinet in 1991 as a minister, with the portfolios of Information and Cultural Affairs and Urban Development and Municipal Affairs.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee returned to the cabinet a few months later.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was elected Chief Minister of West Bengal and was sworn in in a solemn ceremony at Raj Bhawan.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's tenure saw major incidents of violence perpetrated by the cadres of the ruling CPI like the Chhoto Angaria massacre, the Netai killings and the Dhantala case.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee started an industrialization drive in West Bengal to bring in more investment and jobs in the states.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee became the second West Bengal Chief Minister to lose an election from his own constituency, after Prafulla Chandra Sen in 1967.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee resigned as Chief Minister on 13 May 2011.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's Government came under heavy criticism for police action against demonstrators in Nandigram in East Midnapore.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was criticized not only by opposition parties and other Left Front coalition allies like CPI, RSP and AIFB, who threatened to back out from the ministry on this issue, but by his mentor and the state's former chief minister, Jyoti Basu.

On 15 March 2007, Basu criticized Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for failing to restrain the police in Nandigram.

The CPI declared that they were totally behind Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and had drawn up "plans" to placate his critics in the Left Front.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's government was criticized by Left supporters for failing to protect the Left party workers 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.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was elected as Member of Legislative Assembly from Cossipur once and from Jadavpur for five consecutive terms.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was relieved of his posts on the Polit Bureau and Central Committee at the 21st party congress, organised at Vishakhapatnam in 2015.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was later named as a special invitee to the state committee.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said a call was made to his residence earlier in the day, while adding there is no provision of taking consent for giving Padma awards.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was a scholar widely read and had acquaintance with literature of the world.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was an inveterate music lover and quite knowledgeable about Indian classical music.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had a quiet and quite unexpected sense of humour.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Kolkata, on 8 August 2024, at the age of 80.