Bengal CPM secretary Md Salim said on Wednesday that his party “will stay on course” to fight against the “communal BJP” and “thieves of Trinamul” in the state.
The remark was made a day after 26 national Opposition parties, including the CPM and the Trinamul Congress, had joined hands in Bangalore to form INDIA to take on the BJP in the next year’s general election.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury had shared the stage with Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee in Bangalore.
“Our stand is very clear. The fight in Bengal is against the communal BJP and the thieves of Trinamul. We will stay on course and unite all Left, democratic, secular forces, including the Congress and the ISF, in this fight,” Salim said at a news conference at the state headquarters of the CPM in Calcutta.
He was reacting toquestions about the CPM’s position in terms of fighting Mamata.
Sources said the CPM leadership had to face several questions from within and outside on what its equation with Trinamul would be.
In their social media posts, many CPM supporters in Bengal criticised Yechury's presence at the same table as Mamata.
The rumblings of annoyance within the CPM intensified after a video statement from Yechury had been released by the party on Tuesday evening. In his message, he said the cooperation among the Opposition parties "can only work at the state level. So the concerned parties in the states will now start discussions on what sort of electoral arrangements are possible in order to ensure the maximisation of the anti-BJP votes..."
Although Yechury did not clarify if he was hinting at an electoral arrangement between Trinamul and the CPM in Bengal as well, several CPM workers concluded that such an "unholy alliance" was imminent.
Salim on Wednesday referred to a statement made by Yechury before the two-day meeting in Bangalore. Yechury had said in his statement that there would be no alliance with Trinamul in Bengal.
"Not just that. It is our party line decided during the 23rd Party Congress in Kannur. There has been no change in that line," Salim said. He claimed the Opposition cooperation was not an electoral alliance but a strategic collaboration to take on the BJP nationally.
