It was a tight rope walk between ideas and ideology for Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as long he was principal face of the Left Front dispensation in West Bengal. If the man appeared to be more at home with books and films than the hurly burly of politics, as a disciplined activist of his party, he never shirked from his organizational duties..

Other than that, the last chief minister of the left dispensation had a dream. It was to restore West Bengal to the status of a front ranking state of the Indian Union. As a young activist, Bhattacharjee had been a witness to the flight of capital from the state. He sought to kickstart a turnaround process to make the state an investor friendly destination.

If the small car making unit by the Tatas was meant to beckon other industrialists to the state, the proposed chemical hub at Nandigram by Salim group of Indonesia was sought to be projected as a green light to investors abroad. Both were his brain children aimed to tap the rich human resources the state abounded in and produce jobs for skilled and unskilled workers denting unemployment problem.

Bhattacharjee was aware that his choice of investors would draw him intra-,party flak. If the Tatas had been denounced in wall graffiti by his own party activists in not too distant past, the Salim group owners were allegedly known for their involvement in "Communist cleanup" operations in the county they hail from., Indonesia.

Handpicked by state party secretary, Promod Dasgupta, Bhattacharjee together with Anil Biswas and Biman Bose were Bengal CPI(M)'s power troika. Friendship with Biswas, who was the state party secretary when Bhattacharjee became chief minister helped silence intra-party dissent following decision to extend a red carpet to investors.

Arguably any other leader would have been more careful in moving to an area uncharted for the CPI(M) ideologues. But rapidity of action being a chosen technique of Bhattacharjee's style of governance, caution was thrown to the winds. Reading between the lines, Bhattacharjee had good reason to make haste. Reduction of the army of jobless youth would be the first step of the state's economic revival and it would cement the front's support base in general and that of the CPI(M) in particular.

Both the projects appeared to be flawless on paper. But ground realities botched them. Bhattacharjee put greater faith in feasibility study by his bureaucrats. The age old and time tested technique of gathering grassroot level information by local party leaders was given a go by.

The Left Front government ended with egg on it's face as people's,' sentiment exploded fueled by the fear of losing the land which had sustained them for generations. On both occasions, Bhattacharjee and his advisors had failed to take into consideration the love for the land of the local populace.

"Krishi aamader bhitti, shilpa aamader bhabishyat" (farming is our foundation, industry is our future) was another slogan of Bhattacharjee which gained currency during his second term. It sank without a trace post the Nandigram and Singur incidents.

The front regime had once ensured the share croppers right to the land they tilled. Now it was seen as doing an U-,turn which alienated its onetime committed voters -the peasants. Being the leading light of the government he was heading, Bhattacharjee never passed the buck. It is a tragedy that the grand designs he envisaged to transform the moribund economy of the state into a booming one, did not take off.

Moreover, it gave a directionless Opposition a new lease of life. Disparate forces opposed to the front regime closed ranks which were cemented as the schemes floundered and collapsed like houses of cards. Though it rankled, the chief minister put up a brave face. Be it the embarrassment of being photographed with a coal mafia sharing the podium with him or the political and moral fallout of the deaths in Nandigram "police firing", he never put forward any scapegoats.

Arguably such failures were laid at the door of his dispensation whose rallying cry was "do it now". It is a poor apology for the last five years of the Left Front government that to go by these words, it did not look before it leaped and fell far short of the finishing line. Pride seemed to go before the fall of Bhattacharjee's regime. Throwing the basics of the parliamentary democracy to the winds and buoyed by a thumping majority, he described the Opposition as irrelevant after 2006 assembly elections saying ‘ We have 235 and they have 35.’. Five years after, in the 2011 Bengal assembly elections, the TMC led by Mamata Banerjee routed the Left Front and came to power.

Little did Buddhadeb foresee that the coalition his party headed for 34 years was destined to go the same way. The fact remains that many of his followers and admirers together with his critics would hold him responsible for the voters disenchantment with left ideology at successive elections. But Bhattacharjee cannot be solely blamed for the distancing of the CPI(M) from people. Highhanded attitude of many party leaders and cadres had a cumulative effect leading to the collapse of a 34-year old regime. .The corruption was also institutionalized in many state govt departments over which Buddhadeb had no control.

More than twelve years have gone by since Bhattacharjee stepped down from the seat of power. The contour and complexion of state politics has changed in a manner which was inconceivable when he demitted office. Rightist BJP has replaced both the Left read CPI(M) and Congress in the Opposition benches. Politics of dole practised by ruling TMC is on the rise.. In the present assembly, the CPI(M) has no representation. So is the position in the Lok Sabha from Bengal.

Book fair and Kolkata international film festival are the other occasions when the white haired bhadralok is missed. Both events being close to Bhattacharjee's heart, he went out of his way to make the participants feel at home. . He wrote a few plays and took big interest in the literature and films of Latin America.

In his unique way, the then chief minister mingled with the lovers of films and books on these occasions as if he was one of them. A frequent visitor to Nandan, the cultural complex which came up during the front regime further endeared him to the citizens of the cultural Capital of the country. Known for his courtesy towards his political adversaries, Bhattacharjee never lost his temper whatever be the provocation. It singled him out from his predecessor and successor. Despite being cocooned in his small flat for the last many years, his message is still sought after by the CPI(M) party leadership now when they hold big rallies.. Buddhadeb remains a tragic hero in the communist movement of Bengal. (IPA Service)