
CALCUTTA, AUG 28: West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu today asked 8220;rebels8221; in the CPIM to leave the party if they wanted to, while ruling out a split in the party after its special plenum in Kerala in October.
Speaking to mediapersons at the Writers8217; Buildings here this afternoon, Basu said: 8220;Both the CPIM and the Left Front will stay.8221; He reiterated that if 8220;anyone wants to leave the party, they can go.8221;
The special party plenum, which will adopt the new party programme, has fuelled much speculation among the party observers.
Asked whether the Centre, 8220;spurred on by the RSS8221; was contemplating the imposition of the Article 356 in West Bengal, Basu shot back saying: 8220;Let them do it first and we will see.8221; He further demanded to know what the Centre was doing about Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where a 8220;dacoit8221; Veerappan was toying with two state governments by abducting film star Rajkumar.