CPM state secretary Md Salim used a rally on Thursday to observe the food movement to reassure Left Front supporters that irrespective of the party's national plan against the BJP as part of the Opposition alliance INDIA, the party's fight against Trinamul in Bengal will go on.
The Left Front holds a martyrs' rally on August 31 every year in memory of 80 supporters killed on this day in 1959 during an uprising triggered by rising prices.
Salim's attack on Trinamul came on a day when several Left Front leaders were holding a meeting in Mumbai alongside Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee as part of the INDIA alliance.
What Salim said on Thursday had been said before in many news meets he has addressed since the formation of the INDIA bloc to take on the BJP in the 2024 polls. However, his Thursday's statements assume significance since it was the first public event of the Left Front since the INDIA alliance was announced.
Salim said if Trinamul leader Abhishek Banerjee was not summoned by the central investigating agencies for interrogation within a month, Left Front supporters would gherao the CGO complex, which houses the regional offices of the ED and the CBI
"If that nephew (Abhishek Banerjee) is not summoned and interrogated following Calcutta High Court order within a month, we will hold a large gathering and march towards the CGO complex and gherao the ED and CBI offices," Salim told a large gathering of Left supporters at Esplanade in Calcutta.
Left Front chairman Biman Bose and leaders of other Left parties were also present at the event.
Salim took a dig at the "secret" meeting between Abhishek and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi early on Wednesday in Delhi.
"The two dadas (elder brothers, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah) couldn't help so he went to meet the bhai (younger brother). No Rahul, no Modi can save (you)," Salim said amid loud cheers from the crowd.
The CPM has for long alleged that Mamata and her nephew Abhishek's visits to Delhi have been to persuade the duo not to take harsh steps against the latter.
A resolution was adopted and read at the event. Apart from paying tribute to the martyrs of the food movement, the resolution condemned the bloodshed in the recent panchayat polls in the state.
Buoyed by a large turnout despite a heavy downpour, Salim did not mince words in attacking Modi and the BJP for trying to communalise the country with an eye on retaining power.
Before the rally, Bose offered a floral tribute at the memorial for food movement martyrs at Subodh Mullick Square in central Calcutta. At a small gathering there, Bose blamed the Centre for rising prices.
