Yechury Hints at Alliance with Congress to Defeat Trinamool Threat to Democracy

Yechury Hints at Alliance with Congress to Defeat Trinamool Threat to Democracy

KOLKATA: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Saturday hinted at an alliance with the Congress in West Bengal ahead of the State Assembly polls scheduled for next year.

On the eve of the CPI(M) plenum, which will begin on Sunday with a public meeting, Yechury said, “To save democracy in West Bengal which is under threat we want all democratic, secular and Left forces to unite. All are welcome to join hands on this issue.”

Asked about the party’s dichotomy since Assembly elections would also be held in Kerala where the Left’s main opponent was the Congress, he replied, “Respective state committees would take a decision on the basis of ground reality in each state.”

Yechury alleged there was an understanding between the BJP and the TMC and both the parties needed each other for vote banks. He said, “A match fixing is going on between the BJP and the TMC. The TMC does not want the CBI to function since the agency was probing the multi-crore chit fund scam in which its leaders are involved while the BJP needed the TMC’s support in Parliament to get some bills passed.

Several West Bengal CPI(M) leaders have been advocating the forging of an electoral alliance with the Congress to oppose the TMC during the Assembly polls though the party during its congress in Visakhapatnam had resolved to maintain equal distance from both Congress and BJP.

However, CPI(M) central committee members, like former state minister and party’s North 24 Parganas secretary Goutam Deb had openly spoken of an alliance with Congress as many felt such an alliance would enable the coalition to defeat the TMC.

Many in the state Congress like veteran leader Abdul Mannan favoured an alliance with the Left Front which had earlier supported the UPA-I government at the Centre and submitted a document to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on this.

Asked whether he had spoken to the Congress high command on this issue, a smiling Yechury replied that he had wished Sonia Gandhi “a happy new year” in advance. The possibility of an alliance will be discussed at the plenum which will be held in the city for five days and attended by 500 delegates from all over India.

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