All will miss Basu, says Sonia

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who paid homage to CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu, described the Marxist patriarch as a politician of "high values" and said he would be missed by all.

Sonia was among scores of prominent leaders from across the country who paid their last respects to the departed leader whose body was draped in the national tri-colour and lay in state at the West Bengal Assembly.

In a message signed on a condolence book kept at Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee's chamber in the Assembly, Sonia said, "On behalf of the Congress and on my own behalf, I mourn comrade Basu, a leader of vision and conviction,
idealism and accomplishment, high values and practical realism who served his people, his country and his party with total dedication and absolute selflessness."

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee wrote in the condolence book, "With the passing away of Jyoti Babu, an era comes to an end. He moved liked a veritable colossus in the domain of Indian politics during his lifetime."