Nandi at Brigade. (Amit Datta)

Calcutta, Feb. 19: Amitava Nandi, one of the 13 leaders who were dropped from the CPM state committee yesterday, demanded today that the leadership “clearly” tell him the reasons that prompted the decision, adding that it was aimed at “maligning” him.

“The leadership has to tell me clearly why I was dropped from the state committee. I still am a tireless party worker. I don’t think I am old and infirm and so I have to be shown the door,” the 68-year-old leader from North 24-Parganas told The Telegraph.

Nandi, a former Dum Dum MP, said he had aired his “grievances” to the leadership during the state conference yesterday. Asked what he would do if the party refused to give any reasons for his ouster, Nandi said: “I will go to the people and tell them what happened to me. I have the right to know why such a step was taken against me.”

Although officially the CPM did not give any reason for the exclusion of the 13 leaders, party sources said four were dropped because they were “tainted” while the others were eased out because of “age-related issues”. The sources said Nandi, Lakshman Seth, Anil Basu and Rajdeo Goala had “tarnished” the CPM’s image over the years.

Several of the 13 leaders did not attend today’s Brigade rally. Another leader who was conspicuous by his absence was Sushanta Ghosh, the main accused in the Keshpur multiple-murder case. Sources said Ghosh, who was given a hero’s welcome by the CPM after his release from jail on bail, stayed away because he was “hurt at not being included in the state committee”.

The sources said Nandi got the boot for “promoting factionalism” in the North 24-Parganas unit. They said Nandi’s “high-handedness”, which made him unpopular in the party, was another reason for his ouster.

The sources said Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee did not want the “tainted” leaders in the committee and they were dropped at his insistence. “In Nandi’s case too, Buddhada had his way,’’ a CPM leader said.

The marathon 11-hour session following which the 13 leaders were dropped from the 83-member state committee had exposed the intense factional feud within the party.

Nandi today denied the allegations of factionalism. “I never indulged in factionalism. This is an attempt to malign me,” he said.

Asked if the party was planning to take any action against Nandi for his outburst against the leadership, CPM leaders appeared guarded. CPM state secretariat member Rabin Deb said tonight that party members should not criticise the leadership’s decisions openly. “I don’t know what Nandi has said about his being dropped from the state committee. But it is expected of him that he should not speak to the media about party decisions.”

Gautam Deb, the newly appointed secretary of the CPM’s North 24-Parganas unit who is known to have testy ties with Nandi, said he would enquire into the matter.

A CPM leader recounted how Sumanta Hira had been expelled from the party for demonstrating in front of Alimuddin Street after being denied a ticket in the 1991 Assembly polls.

When this correspondent called up Basu, another of the “tainted” triumvirate, to ask him about his ouster, he kept quiet for some time before disconnecting the line. A leader close to the former Arambagh MP said: “Anilda is shocked to have got such a raw deal from the leadership.” Basu had made distasteful personal remarks against Mamata Banerjee in the run-up to the Assembly polls last year,

Goala, whose alleged role in creating a division in the CPM’s Calcutta district committee was apparently the main reason for his ouster, said: “I am 82. Let youths replace us and rebuild the organisation.”