A bhadralok chief minister who made a sincere effort for Bengal’s industrialisation — that is how some of those who came to pay their tribute to former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee remembered him.

Here is what they said when Metro spoke to them at Muzaffar Ahmed Bhavan on Alimuddin Street, the Bengal headquarters of the CPM, where Bhattacharjee’s body was kept between noon and 3.35pm.

ShaquiB Akhtar, 27

MBA student

I liked his personality and also his work as chief minister. We saw a dream when Tata Motors came to Bengal. There was a possibility of Bengal turning around, but alas, that did not happen. He was a minister for so many years and then the chief minister. But no one can raise a finger of corruption at him.

Ananya Banerjee, 29

Works for an event management company

I stood in the queue for nearly two hours to pay my last respects. I am associated with the DYFI (the youth wing of the CPM).

We went to invite him to some of our programmes. That was after 2013. Though he could not come, he encouraged us to keep doing what we were doing.

The Nandigram and Singur issues were very important. He told the common people how the current ruling party had conspired to foil his government’s industrialisation drive.

Timir Mitra, 50

Schoolteacher

Buddhababu, a quintessential bhadralok, was among those who were behind the formation of the school service commission in the 1990s. Before that, school recruitments were governed by managing committees and fraught with corruption.

Kanak Narayan Bhaduri, 79

Retired RBI official

I was impressed by his keenness on ushering in industrialisation in Bengal. He knew how important it was to create jobs and retain talent in the state. But his dreams did not take shape.

Poulomi Roy, 30

Theatre actor

People like Buddhababu do not die, they live on among people. Buddhababu made a lot of us dream.