Last founding politburo member of CPI(M) no more

With a heavy heart, this blog records the death of veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu.

Jyoti Basu (8 July 1914 – 17 January 2010) was an Indian politician belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from West Bengal, India. He served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000, making him India's longest-serving Chief Minister as of 2010 of any Indian state. He was a member of the CPI(M) Politburo from the time of the party's founding in 1964 until 2008. Since 2008 till his death in 2010 he remained a permanent invitee to the central committee of the party. On his death, the last of the founding Politburo members of Communist Party of India (Marxist) passed away.