Left, Congress hold joint rally

The CPI-M-led Left and Congress finally came together to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and proposed National Population Register (NPR) in city today. With their decision to hold anti-CAA rally jointly, both parties also indicated that they are going to fight jointly against both BJP and Trinamul Congress in the coming 2021 assembly polls in the state. Setting all confusion at rest, both parties are in all likelihood poised for an electoral understanding.

The Left Front and Congress leadership assured that they would continue their political events jointly in the state ahead of the elections in municipalities and the state assembly. Seventeen Left parties along with Congress and two other small political organisations brought out a rally that moved from Subodh Mullick Square to Mahajati Sadan through CR Avenue demanding withdrawal of the CAA and NPR.

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“We will continue our protest together against the Act and NPR till the Centre withdraws these two. We have also decided to spread our protest programmes across the state,” said Mr Somen Mitra, president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC), while addressing the rally in front of Mahajati Sadan. “I have written to the chief minister and Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee requesting her party to take part in our programme against the BJP. But she did not respond,” Mr Mitra said.

“A historic day began today to fight against BJP at the Centre and Trinamul Congress in our state. We want to bring back the people who have either joined BJP losing confidence in the Trinamul Congress or in our party. Strike committees will be formed in all booths to make the country- wide general bandh scheduled on 8 January successful,” said CPI-M state secretary Mr Suryakanta Mishra. Central trade unions affiliated to Left parties have called a strike on 8 January with support from the federations backed by Congress.

“Seventeen Left parties, Congress and two other small organisations Swaraj Party and WPI (Welfare Party of India) have come together to organise protests against CAA and NPR. Today, we have also decided to organise meetings in local areas to make the general strike successful. We have called anti-BJP and anti- RSS forces including Trinamul Congress to take part in today’s programme. But Trinamul Congress did not respond,” Left Front chairman Mr Biman Bose said.

“We won’t accept dual nation theory through this Act that divides on the basis of religion in the country. We will carry on our protest programmes together,” said Congress MP Mr Pradip Bhattacharya. Left leaders like Mr Md Selim, Mr Naren Chatterjee, Mr Manoj Bhattacharya and others were also present in the rally that started from Subodh Mullick Square around 2.30 p.m.

An electoral understanding between the Left and Congress was reached during the assembly elections in 2016. The move, however, failed to cut ice with the electorate as the Trinamul Congress swept the polls bagging more than 200 seats. With the phenomenal rise of BJP that won 18 seats in the last Lok Sabha elections in the state, both CPI-M-led Left and Congress started losing vote share alarmingly.

Finding no other alternative to fight the saffron party that has emerged as main opposition in Bengal, both Left and Congress leadership felt the need for forming the electoral alliance ahead of assembly polls in the state. “The two camps felt the political compulsions for the electoral understanding otherwise it would be difficult for them to protect their existence. Today, they came out on the road carrying their party flags together,” a political analyst said.

A senior leader of Forward Bloc, a Left partner, said, “We have to make the next political programmes more aggressive against BJP and Trinamul to reach the people across districts.” Leaders of the parties claimed that the turnout in today’s rally was impressive.