Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader LK Advani are expected to be in Kolkata when departed leader Jyoti Basu undertakes his last journey on Tuesday.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy too may be in Kolkata to honour the occasion. BJP president Nitin Gadkari might come.
Basu died on Sunday.
Communist party of India (Marxist) state secretary Biman Bose said: “From the list that I have received, Pranab Mukherjee, Jaipal Reddy, LK Advani and Sonia Gandhi would be here. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will reach Kolkata.”
West Bengal Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty said that a 40-member delegation from Bangladesh, led by Sheikh Hasina, would reach Kolkata on Tuesday.
Among other foreign dignitaries, Nepal Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Bhutan Foreign Minister Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering are expected.
Former PM HD Deve Gowda, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and former Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu are on the list of expected visitors.
On Monday the CPI(M) finalised the points of halt before the hearse carrying Basu’s body reaches Mohur Kunj, a citizens’ park near SSKM hospital, for the guard of honour to be given by the West Bengal government.
{{/usCountry}}On Monday the CPI(M) finalised the points of halt before the hearse carrying Basu’s body reaches Mohur Kunj, a citizens’ park near SSKM hospital, for the guard of honour to be given by the West Bengal government.
{{/usCountry}}The hearse will roll out of Peace Haven, where Basu’s body has been kept, at 7.30 am. It will be taken to CPI(M) state headquarters for an hour.
From there, it will reach Writers’ Buildings, the state secretariat, where the body will be kept for some time. Subsequently, the hearse will go to the Assembly House before proceeding to Mohur Kunj.