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The national general secretary of the CPI(M), Harkishan Singh Surjeet, has said that nobody was above the party, not even him.Replying to questions at a press conference at the end of the three-day Politburo meeting which adopted the draft changes in the party programme here on Sunday, Surjeet said that there could be some individuals within the party who had erred but that this was nothing out of the ordinary. It was important to realise that the party would lend a helping hand for him to rectify that error.

``Even after this, the error persists and the individual does not rectify his errors, then the party would have to step in,’’ he added, saying that then the party discipline would take its usual course.

``Our party does not believe in punishment as the first course. That comes as the final step. It would be the effort of the party to ensure rectification. For the last few weeks, the newspapers have been publishing all sorts of reports about events within the party. But you must understand that the CPI(M) is the most democratic of all parties. We have a democratic set-up and work according to the dictates of the workers.’’

He said that democracy available in the party was evident in the manner by which the draft changes would now go to the central committee and then to all the party units for suggestions. This process will take two months and even the village level worker will have a say in the changes. This is democracy and this cannot be seen in any other party,’’ he said.