Author: Santanu Banerjee
Publications: The Indian Express,
Mumbai
Dated: February 21, 2001
Close on the heels of the expulsion
of rebel leader Saifuddin Chowdhury and the ensuing ruckus in the party,
yet another party leader, this time South 24.-Paraganas district committee
secretary, Samir Putatunda, has quit saying the "widening ideological cleavage
had become unbridgeable."
The decision of Putatunda to step
down and join Chowdhury's new political outfit could not have come at a
worse time for the party. Party circles here say that Putatunda's decision
would severely affect the party in at least 20 of the 35 Assembly seats
in the district in the coming elections.
Putatunda, a close associate of
controversial CPI(M) leader and minister Subhas Chakraborty, pulled a quick
one by announcing his decision to quit the party at a crowded press conference
here this afternoon leaving no chance for the party to either expel or
censure him.
His decision came as a big shock
to the party as he had himself ruled out the possibility of quitting the
party at a recent party rally with CPI(M) state secretary and politburo
member Anil Biswas.
Later, a visibly disturbed Biswas
told reporters Putatunda had submitted his resignation to the party office.
Though. Biswas, ruled out any impact
of Putatunda's resignation on the elections, he admitted, "I hoped Samir
would stay with the us despite differences on the ideological issue."
On what prompted him to change his
decision, Putatunda said, "I don't think a change in decision would create
any credibility problem for me."
Squarely blaming the party for the
growing cabalistic tendencies within, he said: "The party had not only
followed wrong policies but also the so-called powerful leaders have done
everything to gag dissent so that there's no other option but to quit the
party."
He also alleged that "because of
wrong policies the Left Front could not bring in economic development in
the state and the CPI(M) could not spread in other states like it should."
Putatunda, said "the new Left alternative,
we would launch, will participate in the coming elections in a big way."
