Amid the ongoing meeting of the anti-BJP Opposition forces in Bengaluru to finalise the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, on Tuesday, asked the Congress and CPM to either join BJP or form a separate political platform against ruling Trinamul Congress in the state.

While issuing the appeal, Adhikari has reminded the grassroots level Congress and CPM workers that while in Bengal the latter are facing the onslaught of the ruling party activists, their national leaders are sharing the dais with chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Adhikari did not stop at that. He uploaded two contradictory pictures on his official Twitter handle.

One of the pictures shows Mamata Banerjee, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the same frame at the Bengaluru meeting. The other picture shows a news item where a Congress worker was killed allegedly by Trinamul Congress activists in poll-related violence during the recently concluded elections for the three-tier panchayat system. “It is ‘friendship at Bengaluru ‘ and ‘wrestling at Bengal ‘.

” While there are crude bombs, bullets and iron rods for common party workers, there are mouth-watering fried fish for the leaders,” Adhikari said in his Twitter message. However, his call has been rejected by the leadership of both CPM and Congress. According to the CPM central committee member Dr Sujan Chakraborty, first Adhikari should come clear on whether BJP is serious about its battle against Trinamul Congress.

“If that is so, why are so many ruling party leaders moving around freely in West Bengal despite their involvement in so many scams? His statements are baseless. Our general secretary has made it clear at Bengaluru on Monday only that in West Bengal we will build up equal opposition against both Trinamul Congress and BJP in West Bengal,” he said.

Congress leader and counsel of Calcutta High Court, Kaustav Bagchi gave a counter call to Adhikari to quit BJP and join the joint opposition by Congress and Left Front against Trinamul Congress in the state.