Dipankar Bhattacharya, re-elected CPI(ML) general secretary for the fifth time in a row, said on Tuesday that the Left parties were considering a merger into one entity to work for the people and counter fascist forces in a better manner.

He asserted that the Bihar model of the coming together of non-BJP parties could replace the prevailing Gujarat model and the present dispensation at the Centre.

“Apart from Opposition unity, we and the other Left parties also discussed having just one communist party. It will be good if it happens. Representatives of eight Left parties attended our congress. We had just one communist party in the pre-Independence era. It split some years after Independence,” Bhattacharya said.

The CPI(ML) general secretary added that a single communist party would be able to work for the people and counter the fascist, reactionary forces in a better way than functioning as different parties.

Talking about Opposition unity, Bhattacharya said the Bihar model in which various parties have come together could counter the Gujarat model.