Sheikh Hasina, Sonia Gandhi to pay homage to Basu tomorrow

Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and BJP leader LK Advani will pay homage tomorrow to Jyoti Basu who would be given a state funeral.

"Jyoti Basu will be given a state funeral tomorrow. Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina will led a 30-member delegation to pay tribute to Basu at the assembly premises where his body will be kept for over five hours," assembly speaker Hasim Abdul Halim told reporters here.

Among other leaders to pay homage would be union ministers Sharad Pawar and Jaipal Reddy, former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and RJD leader Lalu Prasad, chief secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty said.

Under a changed schedule, Basu's body will be taken from the funeral parlour where it is being kept and taken to CPI(M) headquarters at Alimuddin Street at around 8:30 am.

CPI-M politburo and Central and State Committee members besides leaders of other political parties will pay homage to the Marxist patriarch at the CPI-M headquarters, party state secretary Biman Bose said.

From Alimuddin Street, his body will be taken to the state secretariat, Writers Building, for a few minutes where chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and chief secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty will place wreaths on the body.

The body will then be taken to the assembly premises where it will be kept for five hours from 10:00 am, Halim said. Basu's last journey will begin from the assembly premises at 3:00 PM.

A guard of honour will be given to him at Moharkunj, a park near SSKM Hospital, where his body has been donated, Bose said.