Senior CPM leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Nepaldeb Bhattacharjee passed away at a private hospital on the EM Bypass in Calcutta around 1.30am on Tuesday following prolonged illness. He was 74.
A resident of Bhatpara in North 24-Parganas, he had almost withdrawn from active politics due to ill health.
Known for his charismatic oratory, Bhattacharjee emerged in the political limelight at a young age. A man of many interests, he was a film enthusiast who wrote and directed a Bengali film, Chaka, in 2000, starring Mithun Chakraborty.
A lifelong Marxist, Bhattacharjee served in almost every wing of the Left movement. As a three-time all-India secretary of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), he worked with former CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and current general secretary M.A. Baby. He also held leadership roles in the Citu, the party’s workers’ arm, and served as the CPM’s North 24-Parganas district secretary from 2015.
Elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1981, his political journey faced a major jolt in the 1990s when he was expelled from the CPM on charges of alleged anti-party activities. Six years later, he was reinstated with respect and entrusted with important organisational responsibilities.
He unsuccessfully contested the 2016 Bengal Assembly polls as the CPM candidate from Rajarhat-Gopalpur, and again in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Dum Dum.
CPM general secretary M.A. Baby, the party’s Bengal unit secretary Md Salim, politburo leader Ramchandra Dome, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and state secretariat members Minakshi Mukherjee and Alakesh Das were among those who paid their respects at the CPM’s state headquarters in Calcutta when Bhattacharjee’s mortal remains were brought there.
His last rites were performed at Bhatpara.
Leaders from across the political spectrum mourned his demise.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh paid a tribute on social media, writing: “He was not a typical CPM leader... he wanted Jyoti Basu to be Prime Minister. Whatever the political controversies, the man was colourful. I will remember him.”
