The CPM has decided to suspend former MLA Tanmoy Bhattacharya following allegations against him of harassing a woman journalist. This decision was announced by the party’s state secretary, Mohammad Salim, on Sunday evening. An official complaint has been filed at the Baranagar police station regarding the matter. Mr Salim also said there would be an internal investigation into the allegations against Tanmoy and he would remain suspended until the investigation was completed.

Any further action will depend on the recommendations of the commission of inquiry. After the allegations surfaced, Tanmoy stated, “I usually joke around with everyone. This woman has interviewed me at least ten times before. I also joked with her. I don’t understand why this is happening now or why he filed a complaint at the police station.” During a Facebook Live session on Sunday afternoon, the journalist claimed that when she went to interview Tanmoy that morning, he sat on her lap. This claim quickly spread on social media, causing an uproar within the CPM.

After this, Mr. Salim held a press conference, saying, “I learned in the afternoon that a woman journalist was upset by Tanmoy’s behavior. Women are very aware of the difference between normal touch and inappropriate touch. CPM takes such complaints seriously. Tanmoy’s actions were reprehensible and the party does not support such behaviour. We don’t take that lightly.” Mr Salim added: “We have an internal complaints committee with its own procedures, which takes time. So we will suspend Tanmoy before that. The length of the suspension will depend on how long the internal investigation takes.

We will act on the committee’s recommendations.” According to CPM sources, in such cases a higher commission is formed to conduct an investigation. Tanmoy is an invited member of the district committee and is under the jurisdiction of the state committee. As the allegations were made public on social media rather than through party channels, Mr Salim announced the suspension on his own initiative. The internal commission of inquiry will soon be tasked to begin its work, with a deadline set for completion.

There are claims from party sources that several allegations were leveled against Tanmoy earlier and these may also be looked into along with the recent complaint. Sujan Chakraborty, who has a significant role in the North 24-Parganas district for the CPM, commented on the allegations against Tanmoy. He said: “I watched Facebook Live and found it disturbing. However, we are not like the other parties. It is important to remember that we have expelled individuals for character issues in the past, only for them to be embraced by the Trinamul Congress.” Asked about potential action against Tanmoy, Mr Chakraborty said: “We have certain procedures within our party and we will follow them in determining our course of action.”