Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) leader and former chief minister of West Bengal Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee passed away on Thursday morning in Kolkata at the age of 80. He lived in a small two-room government apartment in south Kolkata’s Ballygunge area, suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and had been largely confined to his home over the last few years. Bhattacharjee is survived by his wife, Mira, and daughter Suchetana. He died around 8:20 am after his condition deteriorated early morning. His organs will be donated for medical research as per his wishes. His body will be kept in the CPM headquarters for his followers to pay respects and the last journey will take place tomorrow Friday. He was an alumnus of Presidency College, Kolkata and was also a school teacher before he joined politics full-time. Bhattacharjee served as the chief minister for two consecutive terms from May 2001 before the debacle CPI(M)-led Left Front faced in the 2011 assembly polls. He took over from Jyoti Basu who was at the helm in the state from 1977. CPI(M) ruled West Bengal uninterruptedly from 1977-2011. He lost the 2011 Assembly election to Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress and the CPI(M)-led Left Front’s 34-year-long rule in the State came to an end that year. He was equally revered for his deep involvement in literature and the arts, leaving a lasting imprint on Bengal’s cultural landscape. Bhattacharjee hailed from a family with strong literary ties; iconic poet Sukanta Bhattacharya was his father’s cousin. His academic journey began at Sailendra Sircar Vidyalaya and later took him to Presidency College, Kolkata, where he earned a degree in Bengali literature. An accomplished writer and translator, Bhattacharjee’s works found a dedicated readership, especially during Bengal’s Durga Puja celebrations, where stalls outside pandals prominently featured Marxist and progressive literature. His books consistently ranked among the bestsellers. In 2022, Bhattacharjee declined to accept the third-highest civilian award Padma Bhushan after the Union government released the list of the awardees. He said he did not know anything about the award and that nobody said anything to him about it. Bhattacharjee’s predecessor, Jyoti Basu, also refused the Bharat Ratna award when the Manmohan Singh government reportedly proposed to confer the award on the communist leader. No CPI(M) leader has accepted civilian awards from the Union government.