AGARTALA: Nripen Chakraborty, a communist veteran who was readmitted by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Dec. 24, died on the next day. He was 94.

Chakraborty, considered the grand old man of the Indian communist movement and twice the chief minister of Tripura, died at a hospital in Kolkata where he was being treated for multiple ailments.

After being in political wilderness for about a decade, Chakraborty was readmitted into CPI-M on Dec. 24, after being expelled in 1995 on charges of anti-party activities. “Considering the long service towards the communist movement and the work he did for the people, the politburo decided to revoke the expulsion to honor him,” Gautam Das, spokesman of the Tripura state unit of CPI-M, said.