President and PM condole death of Biswas

Kolkata, Mar 27 (UNI) President A P J Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today paid rich tributes to CPI(M) West Bengal State Committee Secretary Anil Biswas, who died here yesterday.

In a condolence message to the wife of Mr Biswas, the President said the departed leader would be remembered for his active contribution to public life. " In his death, the nation has lost a person, who worked for the welfare of needy people of the country.

Personally, I know Anil Biswasji and his contributions, " he said.

Expressing shock and profound grief, the Prime Minister described Mr Biswas as "truly a Marxist, who believed in learing from reality in order to be able to change it." " Comrade Biswas was a great son of Bengal, a truly partiotic Indian and a wise leader with a modern outlook who had dedicated his life to the welfare of our people, " Dr Singh said in a message sent to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

The Prime Minister said the departed CPI(M) leader stood tall because of his personal integrity and simplicy and he was deeply committed to taking Bengal forward.

" I sincerely hope that his colleagues and followers will keep his memory alive by dedicating themselves to his forward looking and progressive agenda of change and reform. We will all be serving Bengal and India well if we learn the appropriate lessons from the life and writings of comrade Biswas, " he said.

Earlier, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who came to the state headquaters of the CPI(M), said the death of Mr Biswas had caused a great damage to mass movement in the entire country.

In a statement, veteran Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M) V S Achutanandan said Anil's presence in the Left movement in the country was so profound that he was going to be missed badly for many years to come.

'' Biswas's role in changing the balance of class forces in rural Bengal helped the consolidation of the party in the state, '' he said while expressing his heartfelt condolences to the members of his family.

'' Despite his preoccupation in the affairs of the party in Bengal, Biswas took keen interest in the movement elsewhere in the country, '' he said.

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