Biswas’s widow Gita grieving over his body on Monday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Calcutta, March 27: The CPM today bid a final farewell to Anil Biswas.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, flanked by politburo members, walked the 2-km stretch from the party’s Alimuddin Street headquarters to NRS Hospital to hand over Biswas’s body for research, as he had pledged.

The body of the state CPM secretary was kept at the party office from 9 am to 4.30 pm to allow people to offer tributes and pay their last respects.

His wife Gita, daughter Ajanta and son-in-law Puspasourav joined the procession to NRS with party supporters, who formed human chains on either side of AJC Bose Road, wearing black badges.

Cries of “Anil Biswas lal salam (red salute)’’ and “Anil Biswas amar rahe (long live)’’ rent the air as the cortege moved.

Police put the number of processionists at a lakh.

Almost all CPM politburo members and a good number of central committee members were present during Biswas’s final journey .

MPs Hannan Mollah and Brinda Karat came from Guwahati this afternoon. The chief minister came to the party headquarters around 4 pm. His wife Meera Bhattacharjee had arrived earlier.

Despite being ill, Lok Sa-bha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee came to the party office. “We’ve lost a good human being and a capable secretary. He was one of those leaders who thought only about the party, not himself,” he said.

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said Biswas was the most competent second-generation leader after the communist party split in 1964 and the CPM was born.

“His ideological commitment helped the CPM soar to new heights. His organisational skills were beyond question. What’s more is that he was never resistant to change and had always been practical while taking party decisions. It is a big loss for all of us,’’ Karat said.

People queued up outside Alimuddin Street with flowers from early morning.

The chief minister, accompanied by Karat, Brinda and politburo members Sitaram Yechury, Biman Bose, industries minister Nirupam Sen and finance minister Asim Dasgupta, lifted Biswas’s body to place it in the hearse.

Government chief whip Rabin Deb and health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra completed the formalities while handing over Biswas’s body to the hospital.