CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee was on Friday suspended from his party for three months over his "lavish lifestyle" which according to the party was in violation of its norms.
The decision was taken by the West Bengal State Committee, which also decided to set up a committee to probe into allegations against the 38-year-old MP who was in the eye of a storm after a party sympathiser criticised him on social media for using an Apple watch and Mont Blanc.
Sources said the action was taken against Banerjee for not adhering to the Party Plenum decisions which had warned against the lavish lifestyle of cadres at different levels. They said it was not just the gadgets episode but there were complaints about his lifestyle that prompted the committee to take disciplinary action.
In February, the party had also cautioned Banerjee who complained against the party sympathiser to his employer, a Bengaluru-based start-up, and demanded that action be taken against him.
The party sympathiser was reacting to a photograph Banerjee posted on social media, asking him what was the means for the MP to buy the costly gadgets.
The party had warned its cadres and leaders about opulent lifestyle at the Kolkata Plenum in 2015 when it acknowledged complaints about "lifestyle, corrupt practices and persistent violations of Communist norms" by "certain comrades".
The report adopted at the Plenum said that the atmosphere created by "liberalisation policies and practices of bourgeois political parties" were influencing a section of comrades. It had also talked about reports from many states about complaints of domestic violence against party members.
"There are also complaints against Party members about their lavish lifestyle, spending beyond their known sources of income for building houses which are far above the minimum needs required, spending large amounts on weddings of children, organizing festivities on a lavish scale etc. Eight state committees reported receiving such complaints," the report said.
 Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee was on Friday suspended from his party for three months over his "lavish lifestyle" ...){kind=link}
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