When the CPM Central Committee meets in Delhi on Saturday, Jyoti Basu will be conspicuous by his absence. All of 94, Basu is too frail to travel to Delhi. In fact, lately, he has even been missing from party meetings in Kolkata. But he has played a pivotal role in the CPI-M decision to withdraw support to the UPA government and in the entire Somnath Chatterjee affair.