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Defying the directive from the Central Committee of the Communist
Party of India (Marxist) that the debate on the West Bengal Chief
Minister Jyoti Basu's Open statement that not to join the United
Front Government was " a historic blunder" is to be treated as "a
closed chapter", five Secretariat members of the Calcutta District
Committee members made a blistering criticism Of Mr Basu on Friday
at a DC meeting.
They were Mr Raghunath Kushari Mr Jayanta Dasgupta, Mr Joygopal
Roy, Mr Alok Majumdar and Mr Kedar Bhattacharyya. At the DC
meeting, convened at the instance of the State Committee Secretary
of CPM Sailen Dasgupta who was present at the meeting, the veteran
leaders criticised both Mr Basu and the Central leadership for not
having punished the octogenarian Politburo member for violating
democratic centralism.
Atleast repeated statement through the media-first to the BBC and
then to the Asian Age - criticising the CC decision called for a
censoring of one of the two seniormost PB members (the other one
being Mr E M S Namboodiripad).
Mr Kushari who remained a silent spectator during the tussle
between the Calcutta DC and state secretariat on the so-called
"operation sunshine" or the nocturnal eviction of more than 20,000
hawkers from the city and thereafter opened his mouth in a sobre
but pungent tone.
He was to take over as the Calcutta DC secretary in 1994 when the
former DC secretary Lakshmi Sen had to put in his papers but
declined to take over the mantle on certain grounds that were very
sensitive to the mandarins of Muzaffar Ahmed Bhavan, the seat of
the West Bengal State Committee and State Secretariat of the party.
Taking cue from Mr Kushari, several other leaders in the DC such as
Mohd Nizamuddin, leader of the CITU-led hawkers' union, Mr Moloy
Chatterjee, an important activist of CPM-led bank employees
federation of India and Ms Sibani Dasgupta also criticised the
state and Central leaders for being lenient towards Mr Basu.
Why shouldn't top party leaders be punished for violation of party
discipline? It is improper for the leaders to talk of
rectification in decontaminating the party when top leaders trample
norms of democratic centralism", said Mr Chatterjee.
Another issue that was also raked up by the abovestated leaders,
defying the directive from the state leadership, housed at the
Muzaffar Ahmed Bhavan, was the hawker eviction issue. Mr Sailen
Dasgupta felt irritated but the criticism was not gagged.
The bad blood between the Calcutta DC and the state leadership grew
when the M A Bhavan mandarins gave protection to some leaders who
had bonhomie with Rashid Khan.
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