The Congress party‘s West Bengal unit, reportedly, has pitched for an alliance with the Left parties, that would include opening up of common offices, to defeat what it calls the “nexus” between the Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) and the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) in the state.
OP Mishra, general secretary of the West Bengal Congress, told The Indian Express that the report had been sent to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in Delhi and the party’s Bengal unit was awaiting its response.
The report’s main agenda was not just next year’s Lok Sabha polls, but to “draw a long-term plan to see how we can make a recovery in the 2021 assembly elections, defeat the TMC and come to power,” said Mishra.
With Mamata Banerjee-led TMC being the state’s dominant party, the Congress, not a strong player in the state for decades, has been pushed further into the margins with the rise of the BJP.
The report sent to Congress headquarters lists a 21-step plan to thwart the “TMC-BJP nexus.” This includes a common social media and online strategy and development of a volunteer force comprising non-BJP and non-TMC parties, reported The Indian Express.
Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took a swipe at the Congress alleging that the national party was opposing the BJP in Delhi but “holding hands” in West Bengal, the NDTV had reported. She said, “Where are the rules, the principles of the Congress?”
Interestingly, Congress along with the TMC and other opposition parties is aiming for a grand anti-BJP alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
