Jyoti Basu injured after fall, can't vote this time

Kolkata, May 13 (IANS) Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) patriarch Jyoti Basu fell at his residence Wednesday morning, his personal aide said.

'Basu fell while going to the washroom early this morning. He received a minor injury in his left leg. He's now been administered medicine by the doctors,' Basu's personal assistant Joykrishna Ghosh told IANS.

'Basu is now under medical supervision at home. But doctors said there's no cause for worry. He can't vote this time because of his ailing health. He is now resting,' Ghosh said.

The 95-year-old communist poster boy, who resides in the posh satellite township of Salt Lake, is a voter in the Barasat Lok Sabha constituency of North 24 Parganas district.

This is the first time in past 63 years that Basu has not exercised his franchise.

In 1946, he contested his maiden election to the Bengal Provincial Assembly from the Railways Reserved constituency.

The veteran communist leader has a blood clot in the brain from a fall at his Salt Lake residence September last year. The doctors had advised surgery but Basu did not opt for it.

Born on July 8, 1914, in Kolkata to a wealthy family, Basu was the state's chief minister from 1977 to 2000, when he quit voluntarily on health grounds.