Jyoti Basu 1914 - 2010

Jyoti Basu  was the prima donna of Indian communism, a product of aristocracy who embraced Marx in London and became the longest serving chief minister in the country. Born the son of a doctor on  July 8, 1914, in Calcutta,  Basu was schooled in Loreto and St. Xavier's. He graduated from Calcutta's famous Presidency College with an honours in English in 1935.

He then studied law in London, where he was associated with the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), the alma mater of many an Indian Communist.  Basu's early associates included the veteran British Communists Harry Pollitt, Rajani Palme Dutt and Ben Bradley. In London, he joined the India League and the Federation of Indian Students in Great Britain. On returning to India, Basu joined the then undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) and in 1944, three years before the British Raj ended, started working among railway workers.

He got into electoral politics in 1946, getting elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly.

He was a thorough gentleman, and had a long innings in West bengal politics: he was the longest serving Chief Minister.

The rest, as we say, is history.