CPI-M expels rebel member questioning support to Pranab

New Delhi, June 23 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Saturday expelled party leader Prasenjit Bose who had attacked the party for supporting UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential race.

Bose, the convener of party's research unit, had resigned from the party Friday and issued an open letter attacking the party's stand supporting Mukherjee. However, the CPI-M announced it had rejected Bose's letter of resignation and instead expelled him.

"The Politbureau rejects the letter of resignation submitted by Prasenjit Bose, convener of the Research Unit," said a CPI-M statement.

"It rejects the contents of the letter which seeks to malign the political line of the Party. The Polit Bureau expels Prasenjit Bose from the membership of the CPI-M under Article VIII (2) of the party constitution," it said.

In his letter Friday, Bose,a familiar face on TV debates, said the CPI-M had committed a "grave error" by supporting Mukherjee.

Bose, who holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the party's decision to support Mukherjee was against the line taken by the party congress held earlier this year.

"I protest against the decision by the Polit Bureau to support the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee...I consider this to be a grave error which will harm the party and disturb Left unity," he said in the letter.

Bose also attacked the party leadership, saying they have made "one mistake after another since 2007".

Among the "mistakes", the letter also mentioned the land acquisition in West Bengal, the Nandigram firing and allowing the UPA-I government to approach the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with the Indo-US nuclear deal.

The left camp was devided over the presidential polls Thursday, after the CPI-M and Forward Bloc decided to support Mukherjee in the presidential race, while the Communist Party of India and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) decided to abstain.

CPI-M has 3.30 percent votes in the electoral college and Forward Bloc has 0.40 percent.