Beijing: China`s ruling Communist Party on Friday expelled disgraced leader Bo Xilai accusing him of corruption, sex and sleaze ahead of a generational change in leadership, and ordered that he face trial for covering up the role of his wife in the murder of a British businessman.
The Politburo meeting of the party headed by President Hu Jintao decided to expel Bo from the party after hearing the report of the committee which probed severe violations of discipline by him, official media here reported.
The decision came before the 18th Party Congress from November 8 that would engineer the once in a decade leadership change.
Condemning Bo, 63, regarded as an emerging hard-liner attempting to revive discarded Maoist ideology, the party slammed him saying that in all his assignments including as Commerce Minister he had inappropriate relations with women.
"He took advantage of his office to seek profits for others and received huge bribes personally and through his family," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the committee report as saying.
His wife Gu Kailai who was given a suspended death sentence for poisoning British businessman Neil Heywood to death was also accused of abusing Bo`s position to seek profits for others.
The Bo family also accepted a huge amount of money and property from others, the report said.
"The meeting also decided to transfer Bo`s suspected law violations and relevant clues to judicial organs," state-run Xinhua said.
Party`s decision to hand him over for trial sets at rest speculation that he would be spared by the party that sees his attempts to resurrect hard-line Maoist ideology as unfavourable. Bo headed a powerful faction within the party that was trying to revive Mao`s ideals by playing up on the growing rich poor divide.
The Party also took serious note of the incident in which former Police Chief of the Chongqing city, Wang Lijun, escaped to US Consulate fearing reprisals from Bo. Wang was sentenced to 15 years.
Several officials have been given varied sentences for trying to protect Gu.
Significantly, policy documents to be submitted to the Congress and finalised by the politburo meeting here swore by policies of Deng Xiaoping, who opened up China to the West.
"The congress will hold high the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, be guided with the Deng Xiaoping Theory," the Xinhua report said.
The present lot of leaders, including Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao -- all Deng loyalists -- are set to retire by the end of this year and the new set of leaders who would be selected by the Congress would take over from early next year for a five year term.
Vice President Xi Jinping and Vice Premier, Li Keqiang are widely projected as successors to Hu and Wen.
Bo was regarded as a charismatic leader popular among the middle and lower middles classes.
He had also made it mandatory for Chongqing TV to play old Mao-era revolutionary songs every evening.
While Bo`s scandal came at an opportune time for his detractors to condemn him for trial, his entire episode in which Gu entered into millions of dollars of business deals with British businessman Neil Heywood also exposed corruption at the higher echelons of the party.
PTI
