THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ongoing opposition campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has opened an unlikely channel of political dialogue between the CPM and its arch-rival Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, with former chief minister Mamata Banerjee responding positively to CPM general secretary M A Baby’s call for a united opposition front against the Narendra Modi government.
Baby’s initiative comes against the backdrop of a decision by five Left parties – the CPM, CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Forward Bloc – to bring together opposition parties beyond the INDIA bloc, besides civil society groups, social organisations and public intellectuals, on a common platform to oppose what they describe as serious issues involving the Election Commission and the BJP-led Union government.
The CPM move assumes significance as the party and the TMC remain bitter political rivals in West Bengal, where the two have been locked in an intense political battle for years.
Speaking to the media, Baby said he had reached out to leaders of opposition parties as part of the effort to build a broader platform.
He said he had also written to Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, seeking support for the initiative.
Asked about the possibility of cooperation between the CPM and Mamata Banerjee’s TMC, Baby acknowledged that the political equation between the two parties in West Bengal remained different. “Though the political situation in Bengal is different, at the national level, all non-BJP opposition secular political parties can work together,” he said.
According to Baby, Banerjee had called him back and responded positively to his initiative.
“Mamata has called back and she has responded very positively. In my opinion, each opposition party must act responsibly,” he said.
The development comes at a time when the Left parties are seeking to expand the campaign beyond the INDIA bloc, apparently recognising that a broader political mobilisation would be required to sustain pressure on the Election Commission and the Centre.
Baby’s remarks, however, indicate that the proposed national-level platform is being viewed separately from the electoral and political contest between the CPM and TMC in the state.