Shaju Philip & Manoj C G

Thiruvananthapuram, New Delhi, July 23: “Like death, disciplinary action can visit a CPM leader at any time, unexpectedly,” said M V Raghavan, who was thrown out of the party two decades ago, as his former comrade Somnath Chatterjee was expelled today from the party he served for four decades.

Raghavan should know.

The firebrand CPM leader from the party’s Malabar heartland was shown the door for proposing to bring minority parties to the CPM fold. “The CPM has never accepted democracy. Party leaders have been thrown out on the pretext of centralised democracy. There is no communist socialism in CPI (M), only socialist fascism ,” said Raghavan.

Raghavan said the present leadership of the party had no mass base. “Many of them were brought to the party leadership via campus recruitment,” he said.

“Prakash Karat, too, had agreed that the Speaker would take the suitable decision at the right time. Then why should he be sacked in this manner, “ said Raghavan, watching the drama unfold in New Delhi.

If Raghavan was the inspiration for the CPI(M)’s young cadres across Kerala at one point, K R Gowri was part of the party’s folklore. Projected as the party’s chief minister candidate for more than one Assembly election, Gowri, too, was sacked in 1994 for “indiscipline.”

Gowriyamma, 89, recalled how she was sidelined by the party she joined in 1947, before she was thrown out—she was demoted from the party state secretariat to the state committee and then the district committee. She said Somnath Chatterjee should have been allowed to take his own decision. “There is no democracy in the CPI(M). If the leadership does not like a person, then his fate is sealed,” she said.

Raghavan and Gowri have survived in politics to tell their tales—both formed their own outfits that are now part of the Congress-led United Democratic Front.

But many other high-profile leaders who were expelled got reduced to the margins of politics. Like Saiffuddin Chaudhary, who was a Central Committee member when he was eased out in 2000 for demanding democratic functioning and transparency in party. The unofficial reason was his hobnobbing with the Congress. In his case, the party, however, did not use the term “expel’” but said his membership had been “struck off from the party rolls.”

“I respect Somnath Chatterjee for whatever he has done for his political and personal integrity. By expelling Somnath, the CPI(M) has once again proved that it is deeply hierarchical, arrogant and foolish,” he said on Wednesday.

The long arm of the party did not spare its long-time Politburo member and former Tripura Chief Minister Nripen Chakraborty either. The veteran communist was sacked in 1995 for opposing the party’s decision on change of leadership in the state. He was re-inducted in 2004, just before his death.

Central Committee member Mangat Ram Pasla was expelled in 2001 for “indulging in anti-party activities”. But sources say the ideological difference on proximity to the Congress, between then party General Secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet and his detractors in Punjab, was one of the reasons.

editor@expressindia.com