WB CPM to expel party workers who helped BJP, TMC

In the wake of a large chunk of the CPM-led Left Front’s votes going to the BJP and some to the TMC, the CPM's state leadership is actively considering to expel or suspend party workers who directly or indirectly collaborated with the BJP and the TMC in the Lok Sabha elections.

The development comes days after CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury admitted that a major portion of the party’s vote base shifted to the BJP.

"The shift of our votes to the BJP has not only ruined our electoral fortune in the Lok Sabha elections but our rivals such as the TMC are also using it as a weapon against us. We have decided to expel party workers who directly or indirectly supported the BJP and the TMC, a senior CPM state committee member said.

CPM sources revealed that the district committees have been asked to prepare a list of such party workers as early as possible and submit it to the state leadership for appropriate action.

The party's state leadership is also actively considering cracking the whip on inactive workers who have become liabilities for the party. Sources said that in districts such as Purulia, Hooghly, Nadia and West Medinipur a list of 200 such inactive party workers has been prepared.

"They will either be expelled or soon suspended,” the CPM state committee member said.

He also said that other district units have been instructed to prepare the list of such candidates at the earliest. However, the party leadership will have a final estimate of such workers only when all the district committees submit their lists.

The CPM state leadership came to know about the shift of their vote base to the BJP while inquiring about the rise in the BJP’s vote share in the state.

However, party sources said that even in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections the district leadership got hints that in a highly polarised situation, the CPM workers were leaning towards the BJP to teach the TMC a lesson. This has also dealt a severe blow to whatever is left of the CPM’s minority vote base.