Cracking the whip, the Trinamul Congress leadership on Saturday suspended rebel MP Kunal Ghosh, who had been causing immense embarrassment to the party and its leaders by his utterances. “The disciplinary committee had issued a showcause notice to Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh on September 20, nevertheless he continued to make disparaging statements about the party with an intent to sully its image. It was, therefore, unanimously decided by the disciplinary committee in a meeting on September 27 to suspend him pending inquiry,” the party secretary general and the head of the disciplinary committee Partha Chatterjee announced. Two other MPs — actors Tapas Pal and Shatabdi Roy — who were also showcaused, however, escaped punishment by sending letters of apology to Ms Mamata Banerjee. “These two are repentant and they have in their letters of apology to the party chairperson promised that they will in future never get involved in any anti-party activity,” he added. Mr Chatterjee, who is also the industry minister, was addressing a news conference at the Trinamul Bhavan. Two other ministers Firhad Hakim and Chandrima Bhattacharya and Tamluk MP Suvendu Adhikari were also present in the news conference. The letter being sent to Mr Ghosh said that he was being suspended from the party with immediate effect until further decision/order. “Final disciplinary action will be taken after going through the usual procedure,” he added. Explaining the drastic action, Mr Chatterjee said that Mr Ghosh was not any ordinary party worker but a member of parliament. “The decision was taken because he continued to brazenly violate the party discipline and no one is above party discipline,” he added. In his reaction to the suspension order, Mr Ghosh said the party took a decision without hearing his version. “I kept on hearing in the media that I had been showcaused but honestly speaking I never received the letter. Had I received the notice I would have certainly replied. In fact, I have been urging the party leadership to give me a chance to clarify my position,” Mr Ghosh added.
