CPI (M) Secretary General Sitaram Yechury has said that there is no confusion as to who his party’s main political adversary is in West Bengal.
Talking to The Hindu, he said, “To defeat the BJP, which is the priority, it is necessary to defeat the TMC [Trinamool Congress] too.”
In a previous interview with the Bengali newspaper GanashaktiMr. Yechury had said that in West Bengal, it was necessary to defeat the BJP “by isolating and defeating Trinamool”. “The Trinamool had paved the way for the BJP in Bengal. The BJP has taken hold with the help of Trinamool. The Trinamool was in alliance with the BJP. The current Chief Minister was a Union Cabinet Minister in the NDA governments. Their credibility in the fight against the BJP is very low in the first place, ”he said.
Recently, the general secretary of the CPI (ML), Dipankar Bhattacharya, whose party won 12 of the 19 seats it contested in Bihar, said that any subordination to Congress would be suicidal. Yechury said speculation about Congress’s role as the alliance’s senior partner was misplaced.
“So far we have not had discussions about agreements to share seats. There is still a long way to go, ”he said.
Congress and leftist parties recently met in Calcutta. However, the leadership of both sides maintained that it was only to prepare for the national strike by unions protesting against the new labor laws.
“So far, we have only started political discussions to mount a fight against the BJP and Trinamool and create the conditions for us to emerge as the largest political force in the state. To do this, we will have joint political movements. Seat sharing arrangements have yet to be discussed. Before that, we first have to consult with the party leadership, ”said Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya.
He dismissed reports that Congress is vying to be the face of the alliance.
“We have no intention of insisting that we be given more seats than the left parties,” Bhattacharya said.
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