Passing of a communist icon

Although the late Jyoti Basu played an important role in breaking the Congress monopoly at the central government and in West Bengal, he is remembered more for the negatives than the positives.

JYOTI Basu, who died on Jan 17 at the ripe old age of 95, was the Chief Minister of West Bengal for a record 23 years and a veteran of the Communist movement for nearly seven decades.