Mamata Banerjee on Thursday described Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's demise as a "great loss" for Bengal as she struggled to even find words to narrate her feelings since she came to know about his death.

The current chief minister, who had in recent years attempted to mend personal ties with her ailing predecessor and his family, said the news of his demise came as such a rude shock to her that she accidentally injured her arm.

"Shocked and saddened by the sudden demise.... My very sincere condolences to Meeradi and Suchetan at this hour of grief," the Trinamool Congress chairperson, who had singlehandedly unseated Bhattacharjee and the 33-year Left regime in 2011, wrote in a statement on X in the morning, hours before visiting their 59A Palm Avenue residence to pay her final respects.

The chequered relationship between the two in many ways determined the fate of Bengal, although it was somewhat amicable — at least on the surface, at least on the personal front — in recent years.

"I met him and spoke to him several times. Every time he was hospitalised, we went to meet him, and every single time he recovered and came home, which was a great gift for us. His death was untimely, but his respiratory ailment was a persistent problem. This morning, too, boudi (Meera Bhattacharjee) said, he started having difficulty breathing, following breakfast," said a visibly emotional Mamata on Palm Avenue, Bhattacharjee's son Suchetan by her side.

Hours before this, she declared a state holiday as a mark of mourning and announced full state honours for the former chief minister's final journey.

"My respect and condolences to his wife, his child, the CPM, the Left Front, and all fellow citizens. His many contributions, throughout his life, call for a detailed discussion, which cannot be done here right now," she added. "Come, let us pray.... He is no longer here with us. But he will live on in our memories of him and his work. May his soul rest in peace. May he keep coming back (implying rebirth) to this soil of Bengal."

A senior Trinamool leader who watched Mamata and Bhattacharjee from close quarters in the final years of the Left regime said: "It was an equation most complex, which evolved considerably over time. Both of them disliked each other intensely for two decades since the 1990s. Buddhababu didn't want to be seen anywhere in Mamata's vicinity, making several disparaging remarks about her; while she was practically allergic to him."

"It was actually more bitter than what her relationship with Jyotibabu ever was. After Jyotibabu's departure from public life, her ties with him vastly improved, while that with Buddhababu deteriorated steadily," he added. "Only in the past seven years or so did both manage to look beyond the past, in varying degrees, and find a way to be civil towards each other."

Virtually echoing him, an Alimuddin Street veteran said although Bhattacharjee never did develop a fondness for Mamata's politics or policies, his stern personal dislike for her had mellowed considerably as he advanced in age and his health deteriorated.

"Till the very end wanted nothing more than to see her defeat. But he was less belligerent towards her, in the way she spoke of her on a personal level," he said.

On Thursday, Mamata said her government was making every arrangement to ensure Bhattacharjee's final journey was conducted with due respect and order. Although she left the city for a World Tribal Day event at Jhargram on Friday, she entrusted the most senior civil and police administration officials and her trusted ministers Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas to ensure everything was carried out properly.