Jyoti Basu dead

---

KOLKATA, India, Jan 17 (Agencies): Jyoti Basu, the charismatic Indian Marxist who headed the world's most electorally successful communist party for two decades, died on Sunday at the age of 95.
Basu, who was the longest serving chief minister in Indian political history, led the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) to power in West Bengal in 1977 and ruled the state for an unbroken 23 years.
After an inconclusive general election in 1996, he was within a hair's breadth of becoming prime minister at the head of a centre-left coalition -- a prospect that prompted the headline "Red Star Over Delhi" in one national newspaper.
But the CPM's central committee decided not to participate in the government -- a move that Basu later described as a "historic blunder".
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Sunday expressed profound shock at the death of Jyoti Basu.
Sheikh Hasina in a message of condolence to Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said she learnt with deep shock and profound sorrow that Jyoti Basu has passed away after prolonged illness.
She said Jyoti Basu, one of the leading political figures in the sub-continent for decades, was a great friend and well-wisher of Bangladesh. His death is a great loss not only for India but also for the region as a whole, she said.
The Prime Minister recalled with deep gratitude Jyoti Basu's enormous support to Bangladesh's war of liberation in 1971.
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia also expressed her deep shock at the death of Jyoti Basu.
"The death news of the veteran political leader of the subcontinent has come as a great shock to me and all democracy-loving people everywhere," she said in a condolence message.