Jyoti Basu

How best can you remember a veteran statesman and leader with a political career spanning seven decades, especially on the occasion of his biography launch? By simply lauding his achievements, you might say.

But here is an instance of an official, who worked for 12 years under Jyoti Basu in West Bengal, making the event more meaningful by comparing the administrative systems in West Bengal and Karnataka.

N. Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner of State Social Welfare Department, who worked from 1996 to 2006 in the districts of Burdwan, Midnapore and Murshidabad of West Bengal in various capacities, recalled the spartan lives of West Bengal's politicians and the transparency of the system there.

“Legislators and Cabinet ministers commute by public transport. They live in small rented houses,” he said.

THE CONTRAST

In contrast, “when I was posted in Karnataka as Deputy Commissioner of Raichur in 2006, I was surprised to find that all the 45 zilla panchayat members who attended a meeting arrived in multi-utility vehicles,” he said.

Appreciating the land reforms brought about by Mr. Basu, the official said there were no beggars there because the Government had provided every individual with minimum land to get by. “The land ceiling limit is strictly followed there. No one can have surplus land and if they do, the Government will recover it and allot it to landless farmers in the village,” he said.

Padmashree awardee K.S. Nisar Ahmed, who released the biography, hailed Mr. Basu's contribution to Indian polity. “He was Chief Minister for 23 years; but he never fought for the post. He believed in administration for the people and from the people. He became the Chief Minister not for power but to serve,” Prof. Ahmed said.

The biography, originally written in Bengali by Surabhi Banerjee, has been translated into Kannada by R.K. Hudagi. It is published by Chintana Prakashana.

I wish I could say the same of Jyoti Basu.
For me, he was the destroyer of Bengal.
From being one of the leading states in India, in almost everything, it has now sunk to a lower level than Bihar.
People are now so disillusioned with his party that they are beating up anyone carrying the red flag.
His goondas are leaving in hordes and joining Mamata Banerjee.
She is no better than Jyoti Basu.
From 1967 to 2011, Jyoti Basu and his party have murdered Bengal.
Now, it is up to Mamata Banerjee to continue the good work and bury the dead body and let ghosts run Bengal.