Once an ally of Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) has reportedly raised problem with the Left Front partnering Congress for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly Elections next year.
As per a report carried by Bengali portal The Wall, SUCI state secretary Chandidas Bhattacharya has said that to fight against BJP and TMC, the left parties need a greater alliance among themselves without Congres.
According to Das of SUCI, which had allied with TMC in 2009 Lok Sabha elections and 2011 Assembly polls to defeat West Bengal’s Left Front government, Congres cannot be a friend against BJP’s communalism and economic policies.
Hitting out at the Congress, Das asked, “Who imposed the Emergency? Who opened the doors of Babri Masjid? Who brought the neoliberal reforms in Indian economy? Who did the anti-Sikh riots? Who ran a near-fascist governement in West Bengal in the 70s?”
However, defending his party’s decision to join hands with TMC in 2009 and 2011, the SUCI state secretary said, “Despite reservations from many, we had partnered with Trinamool just for one reason: To stop CPIM from forming the government once again. We had our stand clear against Congress even at that time. We had fielded candidate against Congress. Please remember that we did not take any ministerial position.”
At a time when a heated debate has taken centrestage in Left Front to identify their prime enemy, Das has called BJP as the main adversary for the Indian citizens. However, he agreed with the mainstream narrative of the left parties that at the same time, TMC needs to be fought as well.
But the fight will have to be undertaken by the left parties together and without any electoral understanding with Congress, asserted Das.
Earlier, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation General Secretary, Dipankar Bhattacharya, had expressed his disappointment with the Left’s Bengal camp.
Following his party’s huge success in Bihar Assembly Elections last year, where the CPIML Liberation won 12 seats, Bhattacharya said that the Left Front in West Bengal was mistaken with its identification of Mamata Banerjee’s TMC as main opponent instead of BJP.