As first minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000, Jyoti Basu was the longest-serving chief minister of an Indian state and the last of the original politburo members of the Communist Party of India. He was also the most left-wing prime minister India never had, after his party refused to participate in the leftist United Front government formed in the wake of the Lok Sabha elections in 1996.
Born into an upper-middle class family, Jyotirindra Basu was the son of a US-educated doctor from East Bengal (now Bangladesh). He was educated at prestigious Catholic schools, Loreto and St Xavier's, in Calcutta and graduated from the eminent Presidency College in 1935. He sailed for Britain where he studied at University College, London, and read for the Bar.
While in London he was influenced by Professor Harold Laski, the anti-Fascist lecturer at the London School of Economics, and Krishna Menon, the founder of the India League. Another mentor was Harry Pollitt, the general secretary of Britain's Communist Party, who advised against the young Basu joining the party because it might harm his return to India under the Raj. He was called to Middle Temple in 1940 and returned to Calcutta.
He was very soon an organiser for the Communist Party of India (CPI), rallying railway workers. When an integrated railways union was formed, he became its general secretary. In 1946 he was elected to the Bengal Provincial Assembly as a Communist and, after independence, he was repeatedly re-elected until his retirement. In the early 1960s the party split and in 1964 Basu joined a separate Marxist party, the CPI (M). In 1967 he became deputy chief minister, but in 1971, despite winning the election, President's Rule was imposed and the party was refused the chance of forming a ministry.
In 1977, after a five-year boycott of the assembly by the party, Basu, in an alliance with left, lower caste and regional parties, became chief minister of West Bengal.
In his 33 years as first minister he achieved much. His government instituted land reforms that were said to give up to two million families a stake in the land on which they toiled. Unlike others, Basu also managed to quell communal violence in his state, especially after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, and after the destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya in 1992.
Yet rural democracy came at a price - stagnation in the cities, especially Calcutta. He accepted with grace, but not without regret, his party's refusal to join the United Front government, thereby robbing him of the chance to be prime minister in 1996. He may not have been king but he was something of a kingmaker, an influential figure even after his retirement in 2000. He was neither an orator nor a demagogue, but a pragmatist often seeking consensus, not a common Marxist trait. Ultimately he managed to be both a true party man and a champion of Bengal.
Jyoti Basu was born on July 8, 1914, and died on January 17. Both his wives predeceased him; he is survived by his only son.
* The National
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'C'mon C'mon'
Director:Mike Mills
Stars:Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann, Woody Norman
Rating: 4/5
TWISTERS
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
Rating: 2.5/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Friday
Nice v Angers (9pm)
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Lyon v Dijon (10pm)
Metz v Troyes (10pm)
Sunday
Saint-Etienne v Rennes (5pm)
Strasbourg v Nantes (7pm)
Marseille v Toulouse (11pm)
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
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