Cracking the whip after tough talk, the Congress on Tuesday suspended 12 rebel candidates including three sitting legislators who defied the party line and filed nominations as independents against 'official' nominees of Trinamool and Congress alliance in West Bengal.
The move comes just a day after Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's warning that the dissidents will face strong action, including expulsion, if they do not withdraw from the poll fray. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee too had launched a scathing attack on the 'independents' during her ongoing poll campaign in north Bengal.
She also expelled dissident sitting party member of legislative assembly from Dinhata in Cooch Behar district Ashok Mondal who was denied nomination from the seat this time which was allotted to the Nationalist Congress Party by Trinamool.
"The rebel Congress candidates who have filed their nominations against the official nominees of the alliance stand suspended from the party for defying party line," West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief Manas Bhuniya told mediapersons.
"We have entered into an alliance with the Trinamool Congress to dislodge the Left Front from power. The alliance is a desire of the people and we respect it. We cannot tolerate violation of party rules and discipline," Congress working Committee member Shakeel Ahmed and in-charge of the party affairs in West Bengal said.
"With a heavy heart we are suspending them. But the party is above individual," he said. Those suspended include three sitting legislators Chittaranjan Roy and Hamidur Rahman in North Dinajpur district, who are close to party member of Parliament from Raiganj Deepa Dasmunshi, and Fazle Haq in Cooch Behar district.
They had filed nominations as independents after being denied party tickets. Also suspended were four dissident candidates and block Congress presidents in Murshidabad district - Sheikh Alamgir, Aminul Islam, Alamgir Hossain and Shamsuzzah Biswas. They all are followers of Adhir Chowdhury, another party MP from Murshidabad district.
The others suspended include Kanailal Agarwal, chairman of the Islampur Municipality in North Dinajpur and a Deepa Dasmunshi loyalist, Al Biruni, a WBPCC member from Malda, and Sahanaj Qadri, niece of Malda district Congress president A H Khanchowdhury and local leader in Birbhum district Md Rafiuddin.
