Former JNU president and CPI national council member Kanhaiya Kumar made an emphatic appeal, firmed on ideological grounding, asking people not to choose the BJP to defeat Trinamul but vote for Sanjukta Morcha candidates instead.

Kanhaiya’s comments, made at a rally on Saturday in support of the CPI’s Patashpur candidate Saikat Giri, come two weeks ahead of the electoral face-off between Mamata Banerjee and her former aide Suvendu Adhikari, both of whose candidature has turned nearby Nandigram into an ideological battleground. Minakshi Mukherjee of the CPM is the Sanjukta Morcha’s candidate for the Nandigram seat.

Kanhaiya's speech laid down his belief that the BJP and Trinamul were both “poison packaged in different bottles” and pointed to the unrest over the BJP's recent nomination of several Trinamul turncoats to poll candidacy as proof.

“Poet Mirza Ghalib had once said that Bengal is that kind of place that exists one hundred years in the past and one hundred years in the future simultaneously. All of you have been raised here and understand the region’s politics better than I do,” he said in a speech sprinkled with jest aimed at his north Indian origins. “You have witnessed the Left Front’s reign... You also know those people who came to power riding on promises of change," he added, referring to the Trinamul.

“You are not simply subjects of the state... Do you agree with me? Your vote is your sovereign right... But certain people are already declaring themselves winners. Then why is their party continuing to spend lakhs and crores of rupees on securing a victory," he asked, referring to the BJP's recent overdrive of rallies in the state.

Referring to his own experiences in student elections, and the need for integrity, he exhorted the crowd not to fall for strongman politics and instead question candidates' competence in regards to ground change on issues such as education, infrastructure and job creation.

Kanhaiya also spoke for the need of “integrity in an age of expression”, explaining the need for clear judgment relating to voting was now made all the more important by “widespread and readily available information”.

The said only the Left had the ideological grounding to defeat a “fascist party” like the BJP and it would be wrong to opt for the saffron party in the desire to oust the Trinamul.

“You might be angry with the functioning of a government but don’t let the BJP come to rule you,” exhorted Kanhaiya while arguing for the need to defeat the Trinamul and vote in a Sanjukta Morcha government in Bengal to fulfil the cry for better governance, jobs and education.

Throwing his weight behind the Morcha's promises, he slammed the BJP’s communal politics, saying: “God is supreme, so who are you (the BJP) to come in between?”

“Such things are not a government’s job. Their job is to respond to the faith reposed in them by voters by building roads and bridges and providing jobs...,” he added.