The state Trinamool leadership has served a showcause notice to Dilip Barman, a member of the mayor-in-council (MMIC) and a councillor of the party, at the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Sunday for his alleged misconduct on July 30.

Subrata Bakshi, Trinamool state president, issued the showcause notice to Barman. Barman will have to reply to it within three days.

“His behaviour at the recent board meeting of the SMC and some of the remarks which he made later were undesirable. The party leadership feels that his remarks have affected the party’s image. That is why the showcause notice has been served to him,” said a senior Trinamool functionary in Siliguri.

Barman, who is the Trinamool councillor of ward 46, had hit the headlines for his heated argument with three prominent office bearers of the SMC during the monthly board meeting.

All of them happened to be Trinamool leaders.

On July 30, while the meeting was in progress, Barman questioned why a drive initiated to dismantle an illegal portion of a building in his ward was withdrawn.

His question prompted Pratul Chakraborty, the chairman, to ask him to sit and say that it was not the right platform for such a query.

The case was sub judice, Barman was told.

Barman, however, did not pay heed and went on making his point.

This irked some of the Trinamool councillors, who also asked him to stop.

However, Barman remained unperturbed and went on speaking. Finally, Gautam Deb, the mayor, and Ranjan Sarkar, the deputy mayor, reacted and asked him to stop
as well.

A verbal altercation ensued. Eventually, Barman was asked to leave the meeting.

Barman, who was still fuming, trained guns at the mayor and the deputy mayor outside the conference hall.

The next day, he also accused mayor Deb of “playing politics” with the Rajbanshi community.

“They have simply done politics with Rajbanshis. I am the sole Rajbanshi councillor in SMC, and they do not want me,” he had alleged.

The mayor had then expressed his disappointment over such remarks and said he had never heard such allegations in his decades-long career as a politician.

“An issue was raised in the board meeting on Wednesday by him (Barman), which is sub judice. Considering its importance, the chairman didn’t allow him. It is a very common phenomenon that occurred inside the SMC. But how it has been projected is shocking,” Deb said.

Following the showcause, a Trinamool leader said: “Barman has been asked to reply within three days. The party will look into his reply and then take necessary steps.”

Barman, when contacted, said he would reply to the showcause. “I will definitely reply within the time frame and will also apprise the state leadership on how I am ignored and cornered in the SMC,” he said.