Jyoti Babu, a champion of toiling masses: Shibu Soren

The death of Jyoti Basu has come as a jolt to the poor and the downtrodden for whom he fought for decades, Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren said today.
 
"He has been a champion for the rights of the poor and the downtrodden. During his chief ministership between 1977 and 1999, he tried to change the fate of these sections of people," Soren said, condoling the 95-year-old Communist leader's death.

"His contribution in land reforms has no other example in northern India. The land reforms took him to the pinnacle of political career," Soren said.

"His death has left me shocked and grief-stricken. I pray to god to give courage to the relatives and the admirers of Jyoti Babu at this hour," the tribal veteran said.

In his condolence message, Jharkhand governor K Sankaranarayanan said the nation had lost a leader who had worked for the weaker sections of people and he was an able administrator and a great political leader.

"His death is a great loss to the nation. It is very difficult to fill the void. He gave a new political direction to the country," he said.

The CPI-M's Central Committee Member, JS Majumdar also condoled Basu's death and expressed shock and pain at his loss.