Calcutta, Feb. 20: CPM politburo member and Citu general secretary Chittabrata Mazumdar died today. He was 72.

A Rajya Sabha member and former state minister, he had been suffering from bronchial ailments.

Mazumdar is survived by his wife and daughter.

He was admitted to a nursing home and put on ventilator and dialysis recently .

The CPM has now lost two politburo members from Bengal in a year. It has not yet filled the politburo vacancy caused by Anil Biswas’s death.

Mazumdar was known to be a hardliner in the party, opposed to the pro-reforms Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. He had supported the employees’ right to strike even in IT.

He opposed real estate on land acquired for industries, while the chief minister favours some “practical leniency” towards the business on the sidelines of industry to ensure investment in Bengal.