Veteran Communist leader Anil Biswas died in Kolkata on Sunday evening, eight days after he suffered a cerebral stroke.
Biswas, 61, is survived by his wife and a daughter. He was a member of the politburo of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Secretary of the party's West Bengal unit.
Jayanta Basu of the seven-member medical board constituted for Biswas' treatment at the Woodlands Nursing Home announced that he breathed his last at 5.25 p.m.
His neurological and cardio-vascular state had deteriorated on Friday night and he had been on ventilator support since then.
A blood clot in Biswas' brain was removed during a surgery on the night of March 18.
Biswas' death comes as a big jolt to the CPI-M in the run-up to assembly elections next month since he was the party's key campaign strategist.
In his absence, the CPI-M politburo on Monday entrusted West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and Left Front chairman Biman Bose with the responsibility of election work.
Biswas is credited with the gradual liberalisation of the party from its hardline approach in West Bengal.
A member of the party's politburo since 1998, Biswas became the state secretary of the CPI-M the same year. A former editor of the party mouthpiece in Bengali, Ganashakti, Biswas was the brain behind the party's important decisions in West Bengal politics.
{{/usCountry}}A member of the party's politburo since 1998, Biswas became the state secretary of the CPI-M the same year. A former editor of the party mouthpiece in Bengali, Ganashakti, Biswas was the brain behind the party's important decisions in West Bengal politics.
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