CPM expels Rajypa Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee over breach of party discipline

Kolkata: The CPM’s West Bengal State Secretariat on Wednesday recommended summary expulsion of party MP Ritabrata Banerjee on charge of serious breach of party discipline. [caption id=“attachment_1805069” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The recommendation, however, was not publicly announced as it has to be ratified by the party Central Committee, the sources said. Communist Party of India-Marxist State Secretary Surjya Kant Misra refused to give details. “You will come to know about the decision when it is publicly announced at the appropriate time. I have seen a lot of people come and go,” he said. The move came after the parliamentarian, in an interview with a television channel, had taken a dig at the party leadership and accused the leadership of being anti-Bengali. Rajya Sabha MP Banerjee has courted controversy in the past. He was suspended by the party on June 2 for three months over his alleged lavish lifestyle, being accused of spending Rs 69.25 lakh on travel expenses in a year. The CPM West Bengal state committee had in August recommended punitive action against party Rajya Sabha member over lifestyle-related allegations. Mishra had said the three-member commission formed to look into the allegations found basis in the charges, though the final decision would be taken by the Central Committee. The party had in February issued a “public warning” to Banerjee for threatening a party supporter who had raised questions in the social media about the source of funds of the young leader’s expensive watch and pen.