INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The CPM wanted to drape Somnath Chatterjee's body in the red flag
Lok Sabha Speaker would most likely have frowned down upon.As his body was taken to three locations in Kolkata that mattered to him -
Calcutta High Court, the West Bengal Assembly and his south Kolkata home - members of the CPM tried to play an active role in organising the
The 89-year-old was expelled by the CPM despite representing the political party in Lok Sabha for almost 40 years.A sour note was struck at
the Assembly where Mr Chatterjee's body lay in state when his daughter responded with some hostility.Asked if her family would accede to
the CPM's request to take his body to the party office at Alimuddin Street in central Kolkata for the last respects, Anushila Bose said
"no and no" with great emphasis.She said her mother and her brother had refused to let either Somnath Chatterjee's body be taken to
Alimuddin Street where the headquarters of West Bengal unit of the CPM is situated
Or allow the party to drape his body in their red flag.Police personnel pay tribute to former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee Bengal
(PTI)"We had seen how badly he was hurt when he was expelled from the party
I remember tears rolling down his face that day
No need to take him the CPM office," said Anushila Bose.Worse was to follow at Somnath Chatterjee's home where his body was laid at rest
CPM politburo member Biman Bose arrived there with the party's general secretary
But Somnath Chatterjee's son Pratap burst out saying, "Mr Biman Bose, please leave
You are not welcome here."A roomfull of stunned people waited for CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury to finish laying the wreathes on the
body and left hurriedly.Biman Bose told reporters outside, "I don't mind his behaviour
At times emotions will be frayed
Here is the time we are noting the achievements he made"The CPM leaders were clearly having a bad day
Because after Mr Bose left the house, Pratap Chatterjee continued his outburst, naming several top CPM leaders
"I have no problems with party workers who made my father what he is
But people like Biman bose and others only used him," he said.The incident has angered CPM workers who stayed with the body till the end and
marched with the hearse all the way to Kolkata's SSKM hospital.In the middle of this bitter drama, another controversy - this one within
The CPM issued a condolence message in which they did not use the term Comrade before Somnath Chatterjee's name
The official message did not have any reference to his association with the party either.The Bengal unit of the CPM issued a separate
resolution in which Somnath Chatterjee was consistently referred to as "Comrade Somnath Chatterjee" and his role as a 10-time
unfortunate soon after the death of a man who was so closely associated with the party.
