BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday said the CPM had facilitated the division of votes in Bengal in the recent general election, enabling the Trinamool Congress to secure at least 12 extra seats.
In response, CPM state secretary Md Salim jeered at Adhikari for inadvertently acknowledging the Left's strength.
"In the 2021 Assembly polls, the CPM helped them (TMC) in dividing votes in 56 seats. They split the Hindu votes and divided the votes of the unemployed, influencing the results in at least 12 seats. The CPM had an agenda, and they succeeded in it," Adhikari told journalists.
The leader of the Opposition claimed that the Marxists' strategy helped the TMC win constituencies like Dum Dum, Howrah and Jadavpur.
In the Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat, Trinamool's Sayani Ghosh defeated BJP candidate Anirban Gangopadhyay by 2,58,201 votes, while CPM candidate Srijan Bhattacharyya secured 2,58,712 votes.
In Dum Dum, Trinamool's Saugata Roy defeated BJP candidate Silbhadra Datta by 70,660 votes, with CPM candidate Sujan Chakraborty receiving 2,40,784 votes.
In Howrah, Trinamool's Prasun Banerjee defeated BJP candidate Rathin Chakraborty by 1,69,742 votes, while CPM candidate Sabyasachi Chatterjee received 1,52,005 votes.
In this Lok Sabha election in Bengal, TMC won 29, the BJP won 12, the Congress managed 1, while the Left Front — in a truck with the Congress — won zero.
However, Adhikari's allegations against the CPM didn't go down well even within his party. Sources in the BJP state unit said that such statements would only further expose the very many organisational weaknesses of the party in Bengal.
"We should accept the people's verdict. We should reach out to the people and try to perform better next time," a senior BJP state unit functionary said.
The CPM said the BJP has admitted that the Left Front is still a force to be reckoned with.
"The fact that the BJP or the NDA couldn't cross 400 seats, or even 300, nationwide is also because of us. We are proud of that. Let them say that if they have the courage. Saying they lost because of us means they acknowledge our strength. Didn't they campaign all this time saying that there is no use in voting for the CPM?" asked Salim.