<p> <br />Following is a chronology of his life:<br /><br />- Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), July 8, 1914.<br /><br />- Graduated from Presidency College with honours in English. He did his Bar at Law from London where he got introduced to Marxism and politics.<br /><br />- Returned to India in 1940. Joined Communist Party of India (CPI).<br /><br />- In 1944 he was a functionary of Bengal railway workers' union.<br /><br />- In 1946 he was elected to the Bengal legislative assembly, defeating Humayun Kabir of Congress.<br /><br />- He won from Baranagar assembly constituency in 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1969 and 1971. He lost the seat in the 1972 snap polls.<br /><br />- In 1964, he helped set up the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).<br /><br />- In 1967, he became deputy chief minister in a coalition government in Bengal.<br /><br />- Became chief minister of West Bengal June 21, 1977 and headed the Left Front government till Nov 6, 2000.<br /><br />- Narrowly missed a chance to become India's prime minister in 1996 after his party's veto. He later called the party decision a "historic blunder".<br /><br />- In 2000, he announced his retirement from active politics and stepped down as chief minister on health grounds.<br /><br />- In 2004, he played a key role to stitch an alliance between the Left parties and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).</p>
<p> <br />Following is a chronology of his life:<br /><br />- Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), July 8, 1914.<br /><br />- Graduated from Presidency College with honours in English. He did his Bar at Law from London where he got introduced to Marxism and politics.<br /><br />- Returned to India in 1940. Joined Communist Party of India (CPI).<br /><br />- In 1944 he was a functionary of Bengal railway workers' union.<br /><br />- In 1946 he was elected to the Bengal legislative assembly, defeating Humayun Kabir of Congress.<br /><br />- He won from Baranagar assembly constituency in 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1969 and 1971. He lost the seat in the 1972 snap polls.<br /><br />- In 1964, he helped set up the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).<br /><br />- In 1967, he became deputy chief minister in a coalition government in Bengal.<br /><br />- Became chief minister of West Bengal June 21, 1977 and headed the Left Front government till Nov 6, 2000.<br /><br />- Narrowly missed a chance to become India's prime minister in 1996 after his party's veto. He later called the party decision a "historic blunder".<br /><br />- In 2000, he announced his retirement from active politics and stepped down as chief minister on health grounds.<br /><br />- In 2004, he played a key role to stitch an alliance between the Left parties and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).</p>