SOME RECENT EXPULSIONS FROM THE CPI (M)

2010: Former MP and Central Committee member Subodh Roy was expelled from primary membership for “grave anti-party activities” with immediate effect. Roy, who represented Bhagalpur between 1999 and 2004, lost the 2004 general elections to Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP.

2012: Prasenjit Bose was convener of the CPI M’s research unit at the ‘headquarters’ popularly known as AKG Bhavan in Delhi. Bose had challenged the CPI(M)’s decision to support UPA’s candidate Pranab Mukherjee during the then Presidential elections. In an open letter, Bose had protested against the party’s decision and announced his resignation, following which the CPI(M) expelled him.

2016: Jagmati Sangwan, who headed the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) and was active on issues relating to women empowerment in Haryana and for her challenge to khaps, quit the

party (and was expelled soon after) in protest at the violation of the party’s tactical line. In 2015, the political tactical line forbade an electoral alliance or understanding with the Congress. However, when the CPI(M) joined a third front in Bengal ahead of the 2014 General Elections and posted a historic defeat, many in the CPI(M) sought action against the West Bengal unit for aligning with the Congress that led to that defeat. When the party sought to condone this, Sangwan resigned.

2017: Ritabrata Banerjee, Rajya Sabha MP, was expelled for ‘anti-party and anti-communist role’.“Even after repeated cautioning by the state committee, Banerjee failed to rectify himself and persistently continued to malign the image of the party by various means,” West Bengal state secretary Surya Kant Mishra said. In 2018, Banerjee was made the chairman of the Trinamool Congress government’s Tribal Development Commission.