TMC block president expels five, including district leader

Five Trinamul Congress leaders, including a former block president and the deputy chief of a panchayat, have been expelled by the party’s block committee in East Burdwan as part of a disciplinary measure.

Joydev Banerjee, the deputy chief of the TMC-led Baikunthapur-I panchayat in Burdwan-II block, had served as the party’s block president from its inception in 1998 until 2009. He was later accommodated in the party’s district committee and, in 2023, assumed the office of deputy chief of the panchayat.

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The newly-appointed block committee president, Parameswar Konar, issued a notice expelling Banerjee and four of his close aides from the party for three years. Konar stated that Banerjee and his associates had repeatedly made derogatory posts on social media, tarnishing the party’s image. Konar said, “Despite repeated cautions, he did not stop, and we had to take disciplinary action eventually.”

Banerjee, meanwhile, questioned the move, saying, “Some corrupt persons involved in grabbing government land and property have declared this punitive measure against me. I am a district committee member — how can a block committee penalise me?”

Nishith Malik, MLA, Bardhaman (Uttar), justified Konar’s action, stating, “At present, there is no functioning district committee of the party, and the block committee has the authority to take such decisions.”