The life of Mr Basu, both in the political arena and on the personal front, have the makings of a legend, and his retirement now has sparked off a debate on his political and administrative legacy. His single greatest achievement has been an uncanny ability to keep a government of 10 parties together. Revered for his age and experience, his brand of pragmatic politics brushed aside ideological dogmas to cater to the moment's needs.

In 1977, India's largest Communist party came to power in West Bengal riding a crest of popularity, and an elderly trade union leader became the state's chief minister.

The 63-year-old man was hailed as the savior of the state, but none gave him more than a few years in the post. By November, 2000, the 5'5" man was not only still the chief minister, he had acquired a legendary status and had created an Indian record as the longest serving head of a state. But age and failing health finally took their toll, as the icon was forced to seek "retirement" from public life. But his detractors feel that the absolute power that his party wielded in the Left Front was the secret of his government's longevity. But the very fact that the CPI-M has been returned to power election after election with absolute majority holds testimony to the charisma of Mr Basu - 'the small big man' of the Indian Communist movement. Basu, after finishing his studies in London, became a barrister in 1939. He plunged headlong into party activities as a leader of rail and dock workers in 1940. He entered the Assembly of undivided Bengal as a workers' representative by defeating Congress stalwart HumayunKabir in 1946.

The frail Bengali `bhadralok' (gentleman), always in spotless white 'dhoti' and 'kurta' (loose shirt) and often described as a "field marshal in a gentleman's garb", has been criticised and praised in equal measures for his "lack of ideological knowledge" and for "resisting the temptation to theorise at the drop of a hat". After the undivided Communist Party split in 1964 on the issue of supporting or opposing China after the 1962 border conflict, Basu was the only one among its London-trained leaders to join the new CPI-M and become its politburo member. But Basu, who introduced the British-brand of Communism, gradually strengthened the two-member Assembly group into absolute majority.

After the Left Front's landslide poll triumph in 1977 (231 out of 294 seats), he became the chief minister at the age of 63 never to look back. While the CPI-M patriarch played the role of an adviser at the National level, in his home state West Bengal, he was also much maligned, irrespective of the wide recognition that the success of the party's land reforms and panchayat (grassroot democracy) policies had gained. Mr Basu had said he had a "good innings" as chief minister. "Most of what I did was right and good for the people. Our greatest achievement is the implementation of the land reforms and creation of a peaceful democratic atmosphere in the state," he has said. With his "retirement", an epoch in Indian Communist movement has come to an end.

-- (India Abroad News Service)