Dissident Bengal Congress lawmaker demands state chief's axing

5 Dariya News

Kolkata 27-Aug-2016

Dissident Congress legislator Manas Bhunia on Saturday sought immediate sacking of state party chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, saying he would write to Party President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi on the issue."He (Chowdhury) should be removed immediately. The Congress in the state is melting like an ice cream under Adhir Chowdhury's leadership," Bhunia, a former state party president, told media persons here.Describing Chowdhury as an "outsider" who was "alien to the Congress culture," he said during Chowdhury's stewardship of the state Congress, the party was on the brink of destruction.Bhunia, who has been at loggerheads with the state party leadership over his decision to continue as the Public Accounts Committee chairman in disregard of the legislators' plea to him to step down, also sought the removal of Abdul Mannan from the post of Congress legislature party leader.

Bhunia's diatribe against Chowdhury and Mannan came a day after they spoke out against him for clinging on to the PAC chairman's post.While Chowdhury had termed Bhunia as a Trinamool Congress "agent" and requested the party high command to start disciplinary proceedings against him, Mannan had commented that the Congress leaders would boycott the Sabong MLA and write to the high command to suspend him."It is the Speaker who is custodian of the assembly. Mannan should remember this," said Bhunia, also a former state minister.Bhunia said he was "eagerly awaiting" letter from the party leadership sacking or suspending him. But he parried questions on whether he would leave the Congress.