TMC advises Left, Cong to back Mamata; Cong says merge with us

If Mamata Banerjeeis in keen on fighting the BJP, then she should join theCongress as it is the only pan-India platform to fight againstcommunalism, he said.Banerjee had floated the Trinamool Congress in 1999after breaking away from the Congress.Senior CPI-M leader Sujan Chakraborty wondered why theTMC was trying to woo the Left parties and the Congress afterbranding them as negligible political force in the state.

The TMC on Wednesday said theCongress and the Left Front should rally behind Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee in her fight against the ''communal anddivisive'' BJP, a suggestion the two parties rejected outright.

The Congress proposed that the TMC should merge withit instead to put up a united fight against the BJP.

The BJP, which has emerged as a potent force in thestate, said the TMC's suggestion amounted to admission that itwas not in a position to take on the saffron party on its ownin the assembly polls in West Bengal due in April-May.

''If the Left Front and the Congress are genuinelyanti-BJP, they should rally behind Mamata Banerjee in herfight against the communal and divisive politics of thesaffron party,'' senior TMC MP Sougata Roy told reporters.

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is the ''real face ofsecular politics against the BJP'', he said.

Reacting to the TMC's proposal, state Congress chiefAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury blamed the West Bengal's ruling partyfor the growth of the BJP in the state.

''We are not interested in aligning with the TMC. Whyis the TMC now interested in an alliance with us afterpoaching our MLAs over the last 10 years. If Mamata Banerjeeis in keen on fighting the BJP, then she should join theCongress as it is the only pan-India platform to fight againstcommunalism,'' he said.

Banerjee had floated the Trinamool Congress in 1999after breaking away from the Congress.

Senior CPI-M leader Sujan Chakraborty wondered why theTMC was trying to woo the Left parties and the Congress afterbranding them as ''negligible'' political force in the state. Healso said the BJP was trying to woo Left voters.

''This only reflects that we are still a force toreckon with. The Left and Congress will defeat both the TMCand the BJP in the assembly elections,'' he said.

Reacting to the development, state BJP president andLok Sabha MP Dilip Ghosh said it reflected the TMC's''desperation''.

''They (the TMC) can't fight us alone, and so they areseeking help of other parties. It also proves that the BJP isthe only alternative to TMC,'' he said.

The Left and the Congress have come together tocontest the assembly polls after the drubbing they got in thelast Lok Sabha elections. The CPI-M-led Left Front had drawn ablank in the LS polls, while the Congress managed to win justtwo of the state's 42 seats.

The BJP, on the other hand, clinched 18 seats, justfour less than TMC's 22.

In the 2016 assembly polls, which the Left andCongress contested together, the combine had won 76 of thestate's 294 seats, while the TMC bagged 211.