DURGAPUR (WB): BJP MP Saumitra Khan urged all opposition parties, including the Congress and the Left Front, to join hands with the saffron camp to defeat the Trinamool Congress in the panchayat polls due next year.
The Congress and the Left Front, however, dismissed Khan's proposal by terming the BJP and the TMC as "two sides of the same coin".
The ruling TMC claimed that Khan's appeal proved that the three parties have a tacit understanding in West Bengal.
"In the rural polls at the booth level, the fight should be TMC versus all. All we want is to defeat the TMC, and anyone or any force willing to fight against the TMC can join hands. If someone at the booth level can defeat the TMC and needs our support, we will support them," Khan told reporters here on Tuesday.
His comments came against the backdrop of the victory of opposition parties in cooperative elections in Purba Medinipur and some other parts of the state.
West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the grand old party would never join hands with the saffron camp.
"Yes, in West Bengal, we are fighting against the TMC. But that doesn't mean we will join hands with the BJP. For us, the TMC and the BJP are grave threats to Bengal," he said.
Echoing him, CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said the Left and the secular forces would defeat both the TMC and the BJP in the near future.
"The TMC and the BJP are both sides of the same coin. Those who were leaders of the TMC till a few years back are now leaders of the BJP or vice-versa. There is no difference between the two, so the question of joining hands with the BJP doesn't arise," he said.
The ruling TMC claimed the cat is now out of the bag.
"The truth has been revealed. Since the last Lok Sabha polls, we have been saying that the Left, Congress and the BJP have a tacit understanding in West Bengal. Saumitra Khan has proved us right," senior TMC leader Tapas Ray said.