The procession covered wide stretches touching his Salt Lake residence, besides making several unscheduled halts following public demand.

Makeshift platforms came up along the route. Slogans of 'Subhas Chakraborty amar rahe' rent the air. There were banners with quotes from Chakraborty's favourite Tagore poems. The Communist cadres sang 'International' and walked behind the flower-bedecked vehicle carrying his body.

A large number of people waited at the sprawling Salt Lake stadium, built at Chakraborty's initiative despite a fund crunch, where the body reached well past noon.

Later, his body will be consigned to flames at the Keoratala ghat after touching the CPI-M headquarters at Alimuddin Street, the state secretariat Writers' Buildings and the office of the party's labour arm CITU.

In a condolence message, Finance Minister and state Congress president Pranab Mukherjee described Chakraborty as 'an able organiser and an effective administrator'.

Former Lok Sabha speaker and expelled CPI-M leader Somnath Chatterjee said: 'From the party's viewpoint it often seemed he was making controversial comments. But I realised later that whatever he said was correct.'