Sources said CPM state secretary Biman Bose had pulled up Salim for using the posters with the candidate’s picture and the popular line from Slumdog Millionaire. The posters, though they bear the party’s symbol, do not mention the party’s name.

“Since the party symbol is present, it was interpreted that the cost of printing the posters and hoardings would be included as expenditure made by the party. Discarding them would mean a loss borne by the party. That is what Bose indicated, indirectly blaming Salim for wasteful expenditure,” sources said.

After the Congress, which has purchased the rights to use the “Jai Ho” song in its campaign, threatened to go to the Election Commission (EC) with a complaint, the issue of Salim’s controversial publicity material was taken up at the CPM’s Kolkata district meeting, from where the matter reached Alimuddin Street, sources said.

It was subsequently found the material had been printed at a single outlet and the cost borne by some north Kolkata clubs and some businessmen. “Bose said some well-wishers had printed the material that was reflecting badly on the party. He said the posters were not according to party norms as the party name was missing. It was interpreted as the individual becoming bigger than the party,” sources added.

While over a thousand expensive flex banners and hoardings of the “offending” design have been printed already, only around 30 per cent have been put up, including one diagonally opposite the WBPCC headquarters.