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Rainbow coalition at final farewell to Basu

From Congress president Sonia Gandhi to BJP leader LK Advani — he escorted each and every luminary to the dais where the Marxist icon’s body lay.

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In death, Jyoti Basu managed to bring Indian politicians of every hue on the same platform. The rainbow could have been complete if Trinamool supremo and railway minister Mamata Banerjee had not taken a last-minute decision to stay away from Basu’s final journey.

Bengal chief minister and Basu’s protégé Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee played a role in this political reunion.

From Congress president Sonia Gandhi to BJP leader LK Advani — he escorted each and every luminary to the dais where the Marxist icon’s body lay.

Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, BJP president Nitin Gadkari, former Bengal chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Roy, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav were the other bigshots paid tribute.

Representatives from China, Bhutan and Venezuela were also present. The West Bengal assembly, from where Basu made his last journey to SSKM Hospital (his body had been pledged), became a confluence of political VVIPs, sports and cultural celebrities and, above all, thousands of people who walked for hours to see the legend one last time.

A huge police contingent, led by Kolkata police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarty was present to maintain law and order — a daunting task on such a momentous occasion. But the disciplined crowd made their work easy.

The man on his last journey was Jyoti Basu. Probably that is the reason the CPI(M) decided to break its strict garlanding protocol for the first time. The first man to pay floral tribute on Tuesday morning was Samar Mukherjee, the eldest surviving CPI(M) member, instead of party general secretary Prakash Karat. Former politburo member Mukherjee, 97, is a year senior to Basu.

Though CPI(M) leaders feared it would be difficult to bring out Basu’s body for its journey towards SSKM Hospital, things moved with tremendous efficiency.

At 3.30pm, the army took charge of the former chief minister’s body for the final leg of the journey to Mohorkunj, a garden, for the gun salute. Six officers from the fourth battalion of the Assam Regiment and the second Battalion of the Rajput Regiment carried Basu’s stretcher to the gun carriage.

From Mohorkunj, the body was handed over to SSKM Hospital authorities. Following the carriage were miles of tears and a disciplined chorus Comrade Jyoti Basu lal salaam.

Mamata absent
Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee did not turn up to pay tribute to Basu on his final journey. Banerjee had, however, made multiple visits to the private hospital where Basu was admitted. A Trinamool source said, “Didi decided that our leader of the Opposition, Partha Chatterjee, would represent  the party.”

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