The Congress on Tuesday condemned the lathicharge on the CPI-M activists during their march to the West Bengal secretariat protesting against unemployment and lawlessness in the state under Trinamool Congress rule.

Leader of Opposition in West Bengal assembly Abdul Mannan termed the yesterday's police attack on the Left activists as a "ploy" by the Mamata Banerjee government to destroy democracy. The CPI(M) is a political ally of the Congress in West Bengal.

"I condemn the way the CPI(M) workers were attacked yesterday. Police also lathicharged journalists who were there to cover the rally. This is undemocratic. Nobody was carrying arms or bombs that police attacked them," he said.

The Congress leader said that he too was hurt in his waist and back when he tried to reach the place where CPI-M state secretary and Politburo member Surjya Kanta Mishra and Left Front chairman Biman Bose were standing during the rally in the city yesterday.

The 'March to Nabanna' (secretariat) was organised by the Left parties to protest against what they called attack on democracy, unemployment and lawlessness in the state during Trinamool Congress rule.

The Congress and Left Front leaders went in a procession from the Assembly to the Raj Bhawan today to meet Governor K N Tripathi and requested him to take steps in connection with the police lathicharge incident.

The Left Front and Congress leaders protested against the police action on the CPI-M activists and journalists at the assembly too after their proposal to adjourn the House was disallowed by the Speaker during the day.

Wearing black bandanas and holding black flags and posters with anti-government slogans, Left MLAs along with their Congress allies went to the well of the house shouting slogans against the Mamata Banerjee government for the police action.

A number of security personnel were deployed around Speaker Biman Banerjee during the protest by Congress MLAs like Nepal Mahato, Manoj Chakraborty along with CPI-M's Ashok Bhattacharya, Sujan Chakraborty, Tanmay Bhattacharjee, Manas Mukherjee among others.