By IANS,
Kolkata : Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav Sunday visited ailing Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu and said it was unfortunate for India that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) did not allow him to become prime minister in 1996.
“He had admirable guts and fighting spirit. But it has been my biggest regret that though we all wanted to make Basu prime minister, the CPI-M supreme body did not allow him to take up the post,” Yadav told mediapersons after visiting the critically ill leader at the private AMRI hospital.
“Had Jyoti Basu been the prime minister, then those succeeding him would have been more mindful of the chair. Had he been allowed to become prime minister, it would have raised the prestige of the chair,” Yadav, who is also the Samajwadi Party chief, said.
He recalled the happenings of 1996 when the United Front comprising several national parties and regional outfits proposed Basu’s name for the top post, only to be vetoed twice by the CPI-M central committee.
“I was told by the then CPI-M general secretary, H.K.S. Surjeet that the committee has decided by one vote that he cannot be prime minister.
“He is an ideal leader… the country’s greatest leader. We should all take inspiration from him. I have come to wish him a speedy recovery,” Yadav added.