Leaders of Opposition parties in Bengal have written to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, requesting her to call a special session of the Assembly immediately to pass a resolution against the contentious farm and essential commodities laws enacted by Parliament recently

“We want to propose and discuss an anti-central government stand at the assembly. If the government makes a similar proposal during the session, we will be in favour of it for the interest of the people,” the letter signed by Opposition leader Abdul Mannan and Left legislative party leader Sujan Chakraborty read.

“The issues covered by the bills are matters of the state... In such a situation it is imperative that immediate action is taken to ensure that the bills aren’t implemented in our state,” the letter added.

Asked to comment on the issue Trinamul MLA and the party’s chief whip Nirmal Ghosh said since the letter had been written to the chief minister, a decision would be taken at the highest level.

The Congress and Left parties have hit the streets to protest the provisions in the farm bills. The Trinamul Congress also announced a series of political programmes as part of its strategy to highlight the Narendra Modi government’s anti-farmer policies.

“The Left and the Congress want to take the first mover advantage by tossing up the proposal for a resolution against the bills... This is not only a strategy against the BJP, but also a plan to castle Trinamul,” said a political analyst.

According to him, if the ruling party agrees to the proposal, the Left and the Congress, which are likely to contest the Assembly polls in an alliance, will claim victory once the Assembly adopts a resolution. “If the ruling party doesn’t pay heed to the demand, they will accuse Mamata of having some understanding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said the analyst.

In January, a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act had been passed by the Assembly. Parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee moved the resolution with both the Congress and the Left parties supporting it.

Referring to that resolution in their letter, Mannan and Chakraborty urged Mamata to take necessary action with no delay. “Opposing the bills just for the sake of doing so will not do any good. If the government truly wants to stop the implementation of the bills in the state, it has to take some concrete action,” Chakraborty told a news conference.

Mannan said: “Two legislative parties in the opposition have taken this step together. We hope the government will listen to us.”