NEW DELHI: The CPI(M) today justified the expulsion of its leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Bandopadhyay, saying instead of complying with the party discipline, he had resorted to publicly malign it.
In a statement issued today, CPI(M) politburo member and West Bengal state secretary Surya Kant Mishra said Bandopadhyay was expelled for "anti-party and anti-communist role".
"Even after repeated cautioning by the state committee, Bandhopadhyay failed to rectify himself and persistently continued to malign the image of the party by various means," the statement said.
The state secretariat of the party had decided to expel him from the party's primary membership on September 13 and the decision was approved by the politburo two days later.
The statement said the West Bengal State Committee had earlier set up a 3-member enquiry commission to investigate the "serious allegations" against him, following which he was suspended from the primary membership of the Party for 3 months pending the enquiry.
After being chargesheeted on the basis of findings of the enquiry commission, the state committee found his reply to it to be "totally unfounded" and it was decided to take penal measures against him, it said, adding that the state committee also informed the Central Committee about the matter.
"Instead of complying with the party discipline, he resorted to malign the party publicly with the help of a section of a media", the statement alleged, adding that after this, it decided to expel him from the primary membership of the party for "his anti-party and anti-communist role".