Thaindian News

Kolkata, May 17 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Tuesday publicly censured its legislator and former West Bengal minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah for his open criticism of top party leaders including outgoing Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

“We don’t approve of whatever he has said,” CPI-M state secretary Biman Bose told media persons here.

The decision to publicly censure Mollah was taken at a meeting of the party’s state committee during the day.

Hours after the declaration of the assembly poll results that saw the LF being routed, Mollah lashed out at Bhattacharjee and Industries Minister Nirupam Sen.

“He (Bhattacharjee) cannot catch a benign snake, and he went to catch a king cobra. Industry is a poisonous cobra. They did not listen to my words at that time,” said Mollah who managed to retain his Canning East seat with a huge margin even as most of his ministerial colleagues including Bhattacharjee bit the dust.

Mollah had on several occasions earlier expressed his opposition to the land acquisition policy of the LF government, which tied itself into knots while trying to acquire land for industries at Singur and Nandigram two years ago.

About Sen, Mollah was equally harsh. “Half of the world knew that he would lose. He was he kingpin of all problems (of the Left Front)”.

Mamata Bannerjee’s Trinamool Congress and its allies swept the assembly polls in West Bengal Friday ending the Left Front’s unprecedented 34-year rule in the state. Several senior ministers including Sen and Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta lost the polls with a huge margin.