John Elliott, who I believe is a fabulous correspondent when it comes to talking about South Asia, has this article put up on Jyoti Basu. It starts very aptly:

India desperately needs charismatic and respected political leaders who can lead coherent policy-based opposition to the Congress Party and its coalition governments. Only two men have qualified for this statesman role in recent years. One is Jyoti Basu of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who died yesterday aged 95. The other is Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 85, a former prime minister and leader of the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), who is in ill health and is no longer politically active.

The article explains why Jyoti Basu should have been the Prime Minister when opportunity had arrived once. (It was the time when Deve Gowda, instead, became the PM).
Read the complete article here.