Com. Subhash Chakraborthy

Senior CPI(M) leader Subhas Chakraborty passes away
He was a dedicated trade-unionist, experienced administrator, lover of sports and culture: Governor


Subhas Chakrabarty
Kolkata: Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and West Bengal’s Minister for Transport, Sport and Youth Services Subhas Chakraborty died at a private hospital here on Monday morning.
Mr. Chakraborty, who was admitted to hospital on July 27 for a lung infection, was not responding to treatment. He was 67 and is survived by his wife and son.
A tearful Biman Bose, Secretary of the West Bengal State Committee of the CPI(M), announced to the crowds who had gathered outside the hospital: “Our dear comrade Subhas Chakraborty has left us. He died at 11.35 a.m.”
Several people in the gathering broke down on hearing the news. Amid the palpable grief, slogans of “long live his memory” erupted as his body was taken from the hospital.
People crowded around the hearse along the route to ‘Peace Heaven,’ where his body was kept for the day.
Events cancelled
A 24-hour state mourning was declared and all state programmes and events were cancelled. All government offices, including Writer’s Building, were closed after 1 p.m. The CPI(M) party flag was flown at half-mast at the party office.
“He left our midst at a very young age,” said veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu, who was shocked on hearing of his death.
“I am devastated”
Condolence messages and tributes flowed in through the day. “I am devastated at the death of my colleague, Subhas Chakraborty. We worked together for many years in the party as well as in government. I couldn’t imagine that a symbol of such boundless energy would pass away so soon,” said West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
“Mass leader”
In a statement, Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi said: “A dedicated trade-unionist, experienced administrator and lover of sports and culture, Subhas Chakraborty will be best remembered as a mass leader. I offer my tribute to his life of public service.”
Recalling incidents from their political life together, Mr. Bose later said: “We have been receiving condolence messages from various district committees and trade unions through the day. We can clearly see the close ties he could form with people.”
Mamata condoles
“I knew him for many years,” said Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee when she went to Peace Heaven to pay her respects. “Whatever our political differences may have been, I’m grieved at his death. Bengal has lost an important political figure.”
Senior CPI(M) leader Amitava Nandi, famed footballer P.K. Banerjee, Trinamool Congress leaders Partha Chatterjee and Mukul Roy were among those visited the hospital.