Former West Bengal Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim passes away

KOLKATA: Former West Bengal Assembly Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim today passed away due to cardiac problems at a city nursing home, his family members said.

He was 80.

Halim, who had created a record of serving as the Assembly speaker for 29 long years from 1982 to 2011 during the Left Front rule, was suffering from cardiac problems since the last few years.

"Today after coming back from morning walk. He complained of chest pain. He was immediately shifted to a city nursing home. He passed away at 10.10 AM," Halim's son, Fuad said.

A member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), he was elected as an MLA for the first time in 1977, when the CPI(M)-led Left Front came to power. He was elected to the state assembly for seven consequtive terms till 2011.

He was Judicial Affairs minister from 1977 to 1982 and subsequently served as the Assembly Speaker from 1982 to 2011.