The West Bengal chief minister is striving hard to reduce the number of cigarettes he smokes—and the cups of tea he drinks. At one point, when he was smoking over 50 cigarettes a day, his daughter Suchetana stepped in to put on the brakes.

Friends supply him with enough stocks of 555 cigarettes but the brand is no bar. Whatever comes by way of an offering is accepted in case of cigarettes.

And that’s the only self-declared “luxury” in the life of the Chief Minister of West Bengal.

His declaration of wealth before the Election Commission provides an interesting peep into the man. It reads: ‘‘Bank account: Nil; Cash: Nil, Deposits in banks, financial institutions: Nil; Postal savings, LIC: Nil; Motor Vehicles: Nil; Jewellery: Nil; Agricultural land: Nil, Buildings: Nil.’’

The Rs 8,000-plus salary that Bhattacharjee gets from the government as the chief minister is handed over to the CPI(M). People close to him say that Bhattacharjee does not even know his exact salary. Every month, he takes the sealed salary packet and hands it over to Alimuddin Street, the party headquarters. Instead, Bhattacharjee gets Rs 3,200 per month as a ‘‘whole-timer of CPI (M) in Alimuddin Street.’’ (The rate for whole-timers varies according to locations.)

Bhattacharjee, of course, has a working wife in Meera Bhattacharjee, a librarian of Development Consultants Limited, a private engineering and architectural firm in Kolkata. Some time back, the company offered a special car for her use. But she refused, opting to continue with the pool car that was being used for others.

The family keeps away from flashlights and always sticks to the party line. ‘‘The massive mandate has proved that the people in Bengal believe it is the Left Front which can ensure development and growth of the state. It also proved that the people have faith in Buddhadeb. They have given an opportunity to him to work more, to perform more. I have always been by his side in his efforts and will continue to do so. I am confident he will do it,’’ she told The Sunday Express.

Lifestyle hasn’t changed a bit for her husband as well. Bhattacharjee is an intensely private person. So much so that he shuns a cellphone and never carries one. Friend Pabitra Sarkar explains it is because he considers cellphone an invasion of privacy.

He also does not like the privacy of his home and family to be disturbed at all. One of his first reactions after becoming the chief minister in November 2000 was: ‘‘I am not going to leave my two-room flat for an official chief minister’s residence.’’ Till date, Bhattacharjee sticks to his vow despite a couple of police attempts to shift him on grounds of security.

Like tea and cigarettes, another Bhattacharjee favourite is the quintessential Bengali adda at Nandan. Whenever time permits, he visits Nandan in the evenings to discuss with his friends the latest in films, music and literature.

Ansu Sur, former director of Kolkata Film Festival who has watched the chief minister from close quarters, says: ‘‘An intense follower of films, Bhattacharjee takes personal initiative in selecting films for the Kolkata festival and watches most of them before those are screened.’’

While his busy schedule has curtailed his writing—which produced several works including Bengali play Dushomoy (Bad Times) and a translation of Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky—Latin American magic realist writers continue to be his favourites.

Daughter Suchetana has now put Bhattacharjee on a new track—wild life. It’s at her insistence and continuous prodding that Bhattacharjee now takes wildlife issues more seriously than ever before. An NGO called Aranyak to which Suchetana is actively attached works closely with the state forest department and its wildlife wing now.