19 January,2010 07:18 AM IST | | Amit Kumar
He could have been the Prime Minister of India, had it not been for the politburo. He called it a 'historic blunder' and left it at that. This veteran politician is no more. Jyoti Basu died on Sunday. He was not just a veteran communist, but a charismatic politician as well, whose influence spread across party lines, from the Congress to the third front. Not only the people of Bengal, but the entire nation will remember him for long as one of the tallest statesmen of the country. When Basu became chief minister of West Bengal for the fifth time in 1996, he had achieved national stature.
When Basu was active in politics, his hold was complete, from the party's politburo to CPM politics in Bengal. That was a time when the Prakash Karat coterie did not exist. And while he openly maintained an anti-Congress stand, he deftly maintained a balance between the third front and the Congress. He would secretly warm up to the Congress at the Center while decimating the party in West Bengal. It was Jyoti Basu who helped the Congress' candidate Sankar Dayal Sharma to win the presidential election with Left support.
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This was the time when the BJP was in the fringes and national politics revolved around pro and anti Congress forces. The term 'secular' hadn't been introduced in Indian politics by then. He was the man who brought together all like-minded parties on a single platform to provide a third alternative to the Congress and the BJP. Third front leaders including Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Chandrababu Naidu - everyone shared a very good relationship with him.
If he had his say in the politburo, he would not have allowed the Left Front to pull the plug from UPA-1.u00a0 His critics however say he turned West Bengal into an industrial graveyard during his tenure.
But, the fact that he had practically finished off the Congress in West Bengal was a feat no other in CPI(M) could achieve. Hats off to the late hero.
