CPI(M) leader Biman Basu retracts after holding Jyoti Basu responsible for LF government’s industrial policy

A file image of Biman Basu. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI[M]) leader Biman Basu on Friday (November 6, 2026) retracted his remarks, holding the veteran party leader and former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu responsible for any issues with the industrial policy of the State during the regime of Left Front.“The Left Front government’s industrial policy was adopted and announced under the leadership of Comrade Jyoti Basu. If there were any problems with that industrial policy, it was Jyoti Basu’s fault. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was given the responsibility to implement that industrial policy,”Mr. Sau said on Thursday (November 6, 2026). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal on Thursday (November 5, 2026) came up with an investment promotion policy offering incentives to new industries that will be set up in the State.Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday (November 5, 2026) blamed the policy of forcible land acquisition during the regime of former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for the decline in industrial prospects of the State. The remark by the senior CPI(M) leader on Thursday sparked speculation on whether Mr. Basu came to the defence of Mr. Bhattacharjee by putting the blame on Jyoti Basu, the longest serving Chief Minister of the State from 1977 to 2000.On Friday (November 6, 2026), Mr. Basu clarified that he did not talk about any divisions between the regime of the two Chief Ministers of the Left Front government. “The industrial policy was announced in the eighties by the then Chief Minister, Comrade Jyoti Basu. Accordingly, industries have developed. Thermal power plants have been built,” he said.The CPI(M) leader said that the fact that no industries came to the State during the past 15 years of the Trinamool Congress regime should not be blamed on the Left.”I did not make any differentiation. I said, the industrial policy was not announced by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. His predecessor Jyoti Basu announced it,” Mr. Basu added.Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 2000 to 2011, is considered to have made an earnest attempt to revive the industrial prospects of the State, but fell into the trap of forcible land acquisition, which brought the Trinamool Congress to power in 2011. The political opponents of the CPI(M), including Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, blame militant trade unionism in the State for the flight of capital from the State. Published - November 07, 2026 03:39 am IST