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Left, Congress plan to revive alliance in West Bengal

Last Updated 16 October 2019, 16:06 IST

Keen on recovering from the set back in the Lok Sabha elections, the Left Front and Congress are planning to join forces again. According to sources, there is a possibility of both sides coming together for the upcoming municipal and municipal by-elections

Soon after the results of the Lok Sabha elections were declared, both sides started showing signs mending their relationship. Sources in the Left Front revealed that the Left and Congress leadership are of the opinion that going solo in West Bengal for the Lok Sabha elections was a mistake.

“So to rectify that mistake, Left Front and Congress leaders have participated in several agitations against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government after the Lok Sabha election results were declared,” said a senior Left Front leader. He also said that very few joint programs were held by the Left and Congress in the state, ever since their alliance in the 2016 Assembly elections was trounced by the TMC.

Earlier, CPM put forward an ideological argument in favour of joining forces with the Congress. Without directly mentioning the grand old party directly, the CPM argued that it was necessary to do so for bringing “secular democratic forces” together. Recently, senior Congress MLA and Leader of the Opposition Abdul Mannan also argued in favour of the alliance in an article in the state Congress’ mouthpiece.

Moreover, according to sources, discussions with Congress have already started about how both sides will hit the streets together against the TMC. The Left and Congress leadership will hold a meeting within a couple of weeks to take a call on the matter.

Even key Left Front constituents such as the Forward Bloc, who had sternly opposed any alliance with Congress earlier, have now changed their mind. The state leadership of Forward Block has said that they will write to Left Front chairperson Biman Basu and state Congress president Somen Mitra urging them to form a Left-Congress joint form to take on TMC and BJP.

“If such a forum is formed ahead of the upcoming Assembly by-elections, then it will send a strong message to voters and party workers,” said Forward Bloc state secretary Naren Chatterjee.

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(Published 16 October 2019, 12:55 IST)

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