Jyoti Basu was a visionary: CII

Indian industry Sunday condoled the death of Marxist icon Jyoti Basu, who was often blamed for the flight of industry from West Bengal in the 1970s due to his party's backing of militant trade unionism.

Indian industry Sunday condoled the death of Marxist icon Jyoti Basu, who was often blamed for the flight of industry from West Bengal in the 1970s due to his party's backing of militant trade unionism. A premier industry body says, "the nation has lost a visionary" and that his state had "made significant progress towards inclusive growth and development".

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"The nation has lost a visionary and a leader of stature. During his tenure as West Bengal chief minister, the state made significant progress towards inclusive growth and development," Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president Venu Srinivasan in a statement.

"During his tenure, West Bengal played host to the maiden edition of the partnership summit in 1995, CII's flagship programme on building linkages across the globe. We had one more edition during his tenure and Basu played a pivotal role in both these editions," he added.

Basu, who had a record 23-year stint as West Bengal chief minister and almost became the country's prime minister in 1996, died in Kolkata Sunday.

"With Basu's death, West Bengal has lost a towering icon as also a wonderful human being, who devoted himself for the well-being of the people of West Bengal," said Mukul Somany, CII's eastern region chairman.

Tracing the long-standing association of CII with Basu, Somany recollected the "unstinted support of the West Bengal government under Basu's dynamic leadership, for various CII initiatives".

"Basu was a visionary leader and West Bengal prospered under his dynamic leadership. He will always be remembered not only as an able politician, but also as a great statesman," Somany added.