Days after TMC appealed Congress and Left front for backing Mamata Banerjee, Left front has reiterated that Left and Congress will fight the election together against BJP and TMC.
Speaking to ANI, about the same, Left Front Chairperson Biman Bose on Saturday said that to save West Bengal from religious polarisation they will fight the election together.
"There is no misunderstanding between us (Congress and the Left Front). Though discussion on seat-sharing is yet to take place, " Bose added.
TMC on January 13, said the Congress and the Left Front should rally behind Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her fight against the "communal and divisive" BJP. The suggestion was, however, rejected outrightly by both the parties.
"If the Left Front and the Congress are genuinely anti-BJP, they should rally behind Mamata Banerjee in her fight against the communal and divisive politics of the saffron party," senior TMC MP Sougata Roy told reporters after the appeal by the party. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is the "real face of secular politics against the BJP", he said.
Reacting to the TMC's proposal, state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury then blamed the West Bengal's ruling party for the growth of the BJP in the state. "We are not interested in aligning with the TMC. Why is the TMC now interested in an alliance with us after poaching our MLAs over the last 10 years. If Mamata Banerjee is in keen on fighting the BJP, then she should join the Congress as it is the only pan-India platform to fight against communalism," he said.
Banerjee had floated the Trinamool Congress in 1999 after breaking away from the Congress.
Later, reacting to the development, state BJP president and Lok Sabha MP Dilip Ghosh said it reflected the TMC's "desperation". "They (the TMC) can't fight us alone, and so they are seeking the help of other parties. It also proves that the BJP is the only alternative to TMC," he said.
The Left and the Congress have come together to contest the assembly polls after the drubbing they got in the last Lok Sabha elections. The CPM-led Left Front had drawn a blank in the LS polls, while the Congress managed to win just two of the state's 42 seats. The BJP, on the other hand, clinched 18 seats, just four less than TMC's 22.
In the 2016 assembly polls, which the Left and Congress contested together, the combine had won 76 of the state's 294 seats, while the TMC bagged 211.
(With inputs from agencies)
