TMC suspends 7 leaders & expels 1 for anti-party activities in Siliguri

Darjeeling: Trinamool Congress has suspended 7 of its leaders and expelled 1 in Siiliguri for not paying heed to party directives and filing nominations as Independent candidates in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) elections.

The SMC with 47 wards will go to polls on January 22. Following the announcement of the official candidate list by the TMC, dissident leaders had filed nominations as independent candidates.

The list included Bikash Sarkar from ward 24; Dijendra Kapur from 1; Reena Das from 39; Mallika Debnath from 46; Hiren Roy and Swapan Das from 39; Bapi Ghosh from 31 and Sudeep Kundu from 24.

While Bikash Ranjan Das has been expelled, the remaining 7 have been suspended. "After they had submitted their nominations as Independent candidates, we had repeatedly requested them to withdraw. We had further informed them that stringent action will be initiated if they failed to comply. However, they did not pay heed," stated Alok Chakravarty, Chairman, Darjeeling District TMC Committee (Plains.)

The matter was communicated to the party top brass. Based on the directives received from Kolkata, disciplinary action was initiated, informed the Chairman.