CPI(M) leader Biman Basu quits after making Jyoti Basu in charge of LF government’s industrial policy

File image of Biman Basu. | Photo credit: KR Deepak

Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) senior leader Biman Basu on Friday (Nov 06, 2026) retracted his remarks and held party veteran and former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu responsible for any problems with the state’s industrial policy during the Left Front regime.

“The industrial policy of the Left Front government was adopted and announced under the leadership of Comrade Jyoti Basu. If there were any problems with this industrial policy, it was Jyoti Basu’s fault. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was given the responsibility of implementing this industrial policy,”

Mr Sau said on Thursday (6 November 2026). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal on Thursday (November 5, 2026) came up with an investment promotion policy offering incentives for new industries to be set up in the state.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday (November 5, 2026) blamed the policy of forcible land acquisition under former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s regime for the decline in the state’s industrial prospects. The senior CPI(M) leader’s remark on Thursday sparked speculation whether Mr Basu had come to Mr Bhattacharjee’s defense by placing the blame on Jyoti Basu, the state’s longest-serving chief minister from 1977 to 2000.

On Friday (November 6, 2026), Mr. Basu clarified that he was not talking about any differences between the regime of the two chief ministers of the Left Front government. “Industrial policy was announced in the eighties by the then Chief Minister Comrade Jyoti Basu. Accordingly, the industry developed. Thermal power plants were built,” he said.

The CPI(M) leader said the fact that no industries came to the state during the last 15 years of the Trinamool Congress regime should not be blamed on the Left. “I did not make any distinctions. I said the industrial policy was not announced by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. His predecessor Jyoti Basu announced it,” Basu added.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 2000 to 2011, is believed to have made a serious attempt to revive the state’s industrial prospects but fell into the trap of forcible land acquisition, which brought the Trinamool Congress to power in 2011. CPI(M) political opponents of the state minister, including the Chiefant trade union in Milefant, have blamed capital flight from the state.

Published – 07 Nov 2026 03:39 IST