West Bengal BJP cracks whip, expels 30 workers over extortion

Cracking the whip hard on erring party men, the Bengal BJP has expelled at least 30 of its subaltern-level party members and suspended about 250 of them following complaints of extortion against them.

The decision comes days after State party president Samik Bhattacharya and subsequently senior leader and Minister Agnimitra issued strong warnings to the party brass against stepping into the shoes of the Trinamool Congress by taking to corrupt ways that included extortion.

Some inside sources, however, placed the number of expulsions at 22, adding 250 workers at mandal level had not been suspended but slapped with show-cause notices for their conduct. A senior State leader associated with the party disciplinary committee said that initially 30 workers had been expelled following complaints but later on some of them were taken back as they were found innocent.

“We are firmly walking our talk… Our leadership is very strong about the issue of corruption … our State president had repeatedly warned the workers against tolabaji (extortion)… they were asked to mend their ways, failing which they would face the music and now they are facing the music,” the leader said, adding the next step could be criminal action. “The party will keep a close watch on the workers… if they are found guilty, then they could even be criminally prosecuted,” another leader said.

Earlier, Bhattacharya said that the disciplinary committee had found no major complaints against any MLA or MP. “Some workers at the grassroots level have been doing some mischief… we told them that we will not tolerate this… we are not Trinamool Congress,” Bhattacharya had earlier warned, saying “if the party workers continued to follow in the footsteps of the TMC then the future of BJP in Bengal was bleak.”

Incidentally, Paul had during a meeting on Monday said that some people were thinking that as they had come to power they could earn money via extortion but warned: “such actions will be dealt with very firmly.”

Saying that Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari was following a zero-tolerance policy against corruption, which was why he had started four helpline numbers for the people to register their complaints. “These helpline numbers have been provided against illegal toll tax, illegal syndicates, extortion, and liquor dens. People can call there to lodge complaints,” she said, adding the BJP Government would not preach one thing and act in a different manner.