19 January,2010 10:02 AM IST | | Special Features
West Bengal's former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu recently had a multiple organ failure and succumbed to his various ailments over the weekend. As the nation mourns the loss of the veteran Marxist leader, CS gives you
>>u00a0He was India's longest serving chief minister. He served from 1977 to 2000.
>>u00a0He was a member of the CPI(M) Politburo from the time of the party's foundation in 1964 until 2008. From 2008 until his death in 2010, he remained a permanent invitee to the party central committee.
>>u00a0While studying in England, Basu subsequently joined India League and London Majlis. Basu introduced the visiting Indian political figures, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, etc to the leaders of Labour Party.
>>u00a0He returned to India in 1940 and though he enrolled himself as a barrister in the Calcutta High Court, he never practiced simply because he was determined to become a full-timer of the party.
>>u00a0Although he donated his body to medical research, it couldn't be used due to his advanced age and multiple organ failure.
