Kolkata: In a significant move, the CPI(M) in West Bengal on Friday suspended its party leader and former cabinet minister Susanta Ghosh for three years on disciplinary grounds. His suspension came after a virtual meeting of senior party members yesterday evening.
Ghosh, however, said that he is yet to receive any formal order from the party. “I heard that I was suspended from the party for three years. However, I have not received any formal letter from the party,” he said.
“The party must be knowing why they suspended me. All I want to say is, I have not done anything against the party. I was in the party, I am still in the party, and I will remain in the party,” Ghosh added.
Ghosh was arrested in August, 2011 in connection with the murder of seven TMC supporters, and spent six months in jail. Police had discovered seven skeletons from an area near Ghosh’s ancestral house in Benachpara in Garbeta in 2002.
Police had claimed that the bodies were buried by Ghosh and his aides to suppress the crime. The sensational murder case came to be known as the ‘Garbeta Skeleton Case’ and the matter is still pending with the court.
Referring to the case, Ghosh said, “More than nine years have already passed in the court and I have no idea how long will it go.”
Ghosh had filed several bail petitions which were turned down by the Calcutta High Court but in February 2012, he managed to secure bail from the Supreme Court. He is one of the influential CPIM leaders in Garbeta in West Midnapur, despite the party not being in power for long.
He was the MLA from 1987 to 2016 and later became a minister in West Bengal cabinet during Left Front government under CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.
Ghosh had authored a book in 2019 titled ‘Baam Jamana Sesh Dedh Dashak – Abhigyata, Anubhuti’ (last one and half decade of Left Front – experience and feelings) where he expressed his thoughts about the CPI (M). Ghosh adds that the book might have angered the party members. “I don’t know whether my book angered anyone or not. You please read the book and judge whether I have said anything wrong or not. All I can say is I know that I have not mentioned anything which is factually incorrect. The context of the book is based on facts,” Ghosh said.
Ghosh was the district committee member of West Midnapore and his suspension could give a big blow for the party ahead of the Assembly Polls scheduled in the state in 2021. The party had earlier suspended its Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Bandyopadhyay from the party in 2017 for ‘leading a lavish life’ and using expensive watches and electronic gadgets. Ritabrata was the former General Secretary of the Students’ Federation of India. He was elected a Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal in February 2014.
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