Kolkata: The CPI(M) has expelled seven members in Nadia’s Kaliganj following vandalism at a local party office triggered by resentment over candidate selection for the upcoming Assembly elections.
Nadia district secretary Meghlal Sheikh on Friday announced the immediate expulsion of Saidul Sheikh, Sentu Sheikh, Zahiruddin Ahmed, Ajay Sarkar, Modasser Mir, M Rahman and Hanif Mohammad.
The party said the individuals, all members of the CPI(M), were involved in damaging furniture and
ransacking the office shortly after the first list of candidates was released earlier this week.
The unrest broke out after the Left-Front nominated Sabina Yasmin, mother of nine-year-old Tamanna Khatun who was killed in a bomb attack last year, as its candidate from Kaliganj.
The announcement, part of a 192-seat candidate list released by Left Front chairman Biman Bose on Tuesday, sparked discontent within sections of the local unit.
Party sources said the disciplinary action, taken within three days of the incident, was meant to send a strong message against indiscipline and factionalism.
Tamanna had died during post-poll violence in a by-election last year.
While the CPI(M) projected Sabina’s candidature as a moral stand, rival parties, including the Trinamool Congress, accused it of politicising a tragedy.