Kolkata, July 26 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)’s West Bengal unit, so far considered soft on expelled party leader Somnath Chatterjee, Monday lashed out against the former Lok Sabha speaker for “trying to malign the party” and dragging late patriarch Jyoti Basu into a controversy.
In his yet-to-be-published autobiography “Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a Parliamentarian”, Chatterjee has launched a scathing attack on CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat, calling him “arrogant” and “an intolerant man”.

Excerpts of the autobiography have been published in a section of the media.

Chatterjee, who was expelled from the party in 2008 for refusing to obey the party diktat to resign as Speaker before the Lok Sabha trust vote, also claimed that top CPI-M leader Jyoti Basu had asked him not to quit.

He also claimed that Jyoti basu had sent a note on the issue to be placed in the politburo meeting.

“This is rubbish. If someone wants to malign the party that is bad, sad and in bad taste,” state party secretary Biman Bose told mediapersons here.

“Jyoti Babu has passed away. It is not right to take his name like this. I never heard him say any such thing,” Bose said.

On Chatterjee referring to the note given by the CPI-M veteran, Bose said: “It was his right to give any note because he could not attend the meeting. It was not a typed one, but only handwritten. But how can someone (read Chatterjee) who did not attend the meeting know its contents?”

Bose said he found it against Communist etiquette and ethics even to comment on such a controversy. “I feel I should not comment on this. Because anything can be quoted to a dead man. Because he can’t clarify.”