Jyoti Basu became a trending topic in micro blogging site 'twitter.com' with 'RIP' (rest in peace) the most common tweet, including from Minister of State for External Affairs Sashi Tharoor.
"Jyoti Basu, 1914-2010. RIP," read Tharoor's tweet. The tweets followed Basu's hearse from the AMRI Hospital in Salt Lake, where he fought death valiantly for 17 days, to funeral parlour, Peace Haven, where his embalmed body will be kept till Tuesday.
The tweets ranged from unadulterated hero worship to tongue-in-cheek comments for the charismatic nonagenarian communist leader.
There were tweets like "A rare kind of man,India loses its communist czar' and 'End of an era .. Jyoti Basu leaves behind a political legacy most admire and only a few can follow".
Another said, "Jyoti Basu, undoubtedly one of the tallest leaders of his country", while another by Kvinu said "A legend, great leader, longest serving chief minister, Jyoti Basu passes into history ... Humblest of politician, should be an example for the present generation".
One tweet spoke of homage to the leader across political divides in this highly polarised city. "Any Calcuttan with his heart in the right place, regardless of his political faith, will be sad at Jyoti Basu's end," said one more tweet.
There were tweets which spoke of Basu's contribution to national and regional politics and people.
"Basu was a powerful regional voice in the national political scene", said one, while another said "He was a great leader who challenged Congress leadership and policies for the sake of middleclass".
"Jyoti Basu is pioneer of creating alliance government in West Bengal," said yet another tweet perhaps in remembrance of the fact that as the longest serving chief minister of the country, Basu had led an alliance, the Left Front.
The tongue-in-cheek posts hinted at the subdued state of affairs in the LF since its loss in the Lok Sabha polls last year to the Trinamool Congress-Congress allaince.
A tweet by Retro-Rocket said "Adieu Comrade Jyoti Basu. You led the rise of Marxism and left witnessing their fall". His not becoming prime minister was also not forgotten. Said one "So if I say 'Jyoti Basu died at 11.47 am thus again almost making it to pm, it would be in bad taste uh!" PTI
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