Kolkata, Sep 13 : CPI-M Politburo member and party's state secretary in West Bengal Mohammed Salim, on Wednesday, criticised the decision to keep the chair of Trinamool Congress' national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee vacant at the first meeting of the coordination committee of the opposition INDIA alliance. Drawing a reference to the great Indian epic of Ramayana, Salim said that instead of keeping the chair vacant, Banerjee's shoes could have been kept there. "There is an instance in our epic that the footwear of the king was placed on the throne while he went to the forest. That example could have been followed here as well," Salim told mediapersons on Wednesday evening. Although the CPI-M veteran did not name anyone, his clear target was Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut who had announced the chair was vacant at the meeting as a mark of solidarity towards his inability to be present at the meeting as he was summoned by ED on the same day. "His chair will be kept vacant as a mark of protest towards the harassment of opposition leaders through central agencies," Raut said. While Banerjee was the Trinamool Congress representative in the coordination committee of INDIA alliance, CPI-M is yet to name a representative there. Salim's comments came at a time when the party's national leadership of the party has come under scathing criticisms from rank and file of the party in West Bengal over CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury sharing the same dais West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. /IANS