Bengal: Massive Crowd Descends on Alimuddin Street to Bid Farewell to Buddhadeb Bhattacharya

Kolkata: Lakhs of common people, including from some other states, descended on CPI(M)’s state headquarters in Kolkata’s Alimuddin Street on Friday to bid a tearful farewell to former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, 80, who passed away on Thursday.

There were serpentine queues to pay their last respects to Bhattacharya, whose body, draped in the party’s red flag, was first taken to the State Assembly and later was kept in the state CPI(M) headquarters. At around 3.30 p.m, his hearse was taken to the state Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) headquarters, as he was its founding secretary. His final journey then went up to NRS Medical College, about 1.5 km from the state DYFI office. Bhattacharya had donated his body for medical research.

On the entire 1.5km route, there was a human deluge, with lakhs of common people from all walks of life, including teachers, students, workers, and also people from other states, taking part in the funeral procession. Several people could be see crying as they sang the communist anthem ‘Internationale’.  The procession went on for over an hour, as people jostled to catch a glimpse of the departed leader, as the slogan ‘Red Salute to Comrade’ rent the air. During the funeral procession, 80 red flags in half mast were carried by Left volunteers, as a mark of respect.

Among those who attended the funeral were CPI(M) politburo members Brinda Karat, Prakash Karat, Left Front chairman Biman Basu, former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, and other leaders such as Ramchandra Dom, Tapan Sen, Mohd Salim among others.

Earlier in the day, several leaders from other political parties, artistes, film and theatre actors and directors, made a beeline to pay homage to Bhattacharya.

NewsClick spoke with Ahana Choudhury, 29, who was standing at Moulali Crossing with tears in her eyes, and said she had come to bid farewell to “her leader”. A resident of Salkia in Howrah, she said she worked in Sector 5 and took a day off to see the last procession of “her beloved chief minister”. “He is our pride, our love, his white kurta-dhoti image is corruption-free and his gentle behaviour toward all remains must be emulated by all, be it politicians or any other professional,” she said.

Biplab Nag, an employee of state cooperative bank, claimed there was no other Chief Minister in the country who touched his sensibilities so intensely.  

Several such reactions could be heard during the huge funeral procession, which was lined by onlookers throughout the route.  At around 5.30 p.m, Bhattacharya’s body was handed over to doctors of NRS Hospital. On Thursday, his corneas were already donated to two persons.