Short Biography of Atheist Chief Minister Jyoti Basu

Short Biography of Atheist Chief Minister Jyoti Basu


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Jyoti Basu was born on July 8, 1914 into an upper middle-class Bengali family At 43/1 Harrison Road (now Mahatma Gandhi Road) in Calcutta

The people who do not believe in God or divine beings are called as Atheist and Jyoti Basu is one of them.


He was initially named Jyotirindra Basu. . Jyotirindra was affectionately called Gana. But the name was shortened to Jyoti when he joined school. 

Jyoti means light or flame.

His father Nishikanta Basu, a doctor, hailed from the village of Barodi in Dhaka District, East Bengal (now in Bangladesh) 

Jyoti Basu got his school education at St. Xavier's Collegiate School. 

Jyoti Basu graduated from Hindu College now Presidency College with an honours degree from the Art Faculty in 1935, and subsequently travelled to the United Kingdom to study law at Middle Temple, London. 

Jyoti Basu Was a member of the India League, London, a member of the Federation of Indian Students in Great Britain, Secretary of the London Majlis.

He was introduced to the Communist Party of Great Britain through Bhupesh Gupta.
Basu returned to India in 1940 after qualifying for the Bar and became a whole-timer of the Communist Party of India. 

On Jan 20, 1940, Jyoti Basu married Smt. Basanti (Chabi) ghosh. 

On May 11, 1942, Mrs. Basanti Basu breadth her last. Her death was a great shock to Basu’s mother who passed away a few months later. 

Jyoti Basu married Kamal Basu on Dec 5, 1948.

In 1944 Basu became involved in trade union activities. 

CPI delegated him to work amongst the railway labourers. When B.N. Railway Workers Union and B.D. Rail Road Workers Union merged Basu became the general secretary of the union.
Jyoti Basu was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1946, contesting the Railway constituency. 

When the Communist Party of India split in 1964, Jyoti Basu became one of the first nine members of the Politburo of the newly-formed Communist Party of India (Marxist)
In 1967 and 1969, Basu became Deputy Chief Minister of West Bengal in the United Front governments.

From June 21, 1977 to November 6, 2000, Jyoti Basu served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the Left Front government.
Basu resigned from the Chief Ministership of West Bengal in 2000 for health reasons and was succeeded by fellow CPI (M) politician Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.

As of 2009, Basu holds the record for being the longest-serving Chief Minister in Indian political history.

Basu believed and still believes that “it is man and man alone who creates history. Despite many crest and thrust people will finally emerge victorious and go in freedom in a classless society free from exploitation of any form.”

He was elected Secretary of Friends of Soviet Union (FSU) and Anti-Facist Writers and Artists Association.

In 1996 Jyoti Basu seemed all set to be the consensus leader of the United Front for the post of Prime Minister of India. However, the CPI (M) Politburo decided not to participate in the government, a decision that Jyoti Basu later termed a historic blunder. 

H.D. Deve Gowda from the Janata Dal instead became Prime Minister.

Is Bipasha Basu grand daughter of Jyoti Basu?
There is no relation between Bipasha Basu & Jyoti Basu

Controversies -

In January 2006 the Supreme Court of India issued notices to Basu and others in connection with land allotments in Salt Lake.

Update- Sun, Jan 17 2010
End of an era:
Veteran Marxist leader and former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu died at the AMRI Hospital of multiple-organ failure at 11.47 a.m. on Sunday. He was 95.


Jyoti Basu Photos-