Kolkata, December 24
Veteran CPI(M) leader Nirupam Sen, during whose tenure as industry minister in West Bengal the Singur controversy broke out over the Tata Nano project, died at a city hospital on Monday after a prolonged illness, family sources said.
He was 72. The former politburo member leaves behind his wife, a son and a daughter.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who had spearheaded the anti-land acquisition movement in Singur, and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury condoled the death of the Marxist leader.
The former minister was on life support system after his health deteriorated in early December. One of the most prominent faces of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya Cabinet after the CPI(M)-led Left Front was voted to power in 2001, Sen was handed the charge of commerce and industries.
It was under the leadership of Bhattacharya and Sen that the Left Front started selling the dream of industrialisation and shifted focus to private investment. This shift in the policy reaped them heavy dividends, resulting in the Left Front’s resounding victory in the 2006 Assembly poll. — PTI
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