Ramaswami: A senior Akali leader from Punjab, Kuldeep Singh Wadala, remembers Jyoti Basu as a trusted ally in the Akali agitations, including the one for a Punjabi-speaking State and the protest against the Emergency. Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal travelled to Kolkata to pay his last respects to Jyoti Basu and wrote for The Tribune a piece praising the deceased leader.