Kolkata, May 16 The Communist Party of India (Marxists-Leninist), which had provided a latent support to Trinamool Congress in the 2021 Assembly elections in West Bengal, now wants a bigger unity of all Left parties in the state but without the 'Left Front' tag.
CPI(M-L) national General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya told newspersons here on Monday that many Leftist forces were previously not part of the Left Front.
"But time has come for a bigger unity of the Left parties in West Bengal to counter the BJP's organisational growth in the state, as well as to resist the misrule of the ruling Trinamool Congress. But that bigger unity of Left parties in the state cannot happen with the 'Left Front' tag. We are ready to discuss what would be the new banner with the other Left parties, especially the CPI(M)," Bhattacharya said.
He also said that in the 2021 Assembly elections, his party had given a call for 'No vote to BJP'.
"Although the people stopped the BJP from coming to power in West Bengal, the opposition space in the state Assembly has been occupied by the saffron party, while the seat tally of the Left parties was reduced to zero. So now we are calling for a bigger unity of all the Left parties in the state to stop BJP's growth and resist Trinamool Congress' atrocities at the same time," said Bhattacharya.
Bhattacharya has his own logic as to why the Left Front tag should be shed for achieving this bigger Left unity.
"The people of West Bengal associate the Left Front with the Left Front government that ruled the state for 34 years from 1977 to 2011. In the latter part of its rule, there were growing grievances among the people against the Left Front government, as a result of which it was voted out of power in 2011. So, we are against that Left Front banner," Bhattacharya said.
When contacted, CPI(M) politburo member and state secretary Md Salim told that it is good that Bhattacharya is showing a positive gesture with regard to bigger unity of Left parties.
"Today only we had a meeting on this count where all the constituents of the Left Front as well as those outside the Left Front, including CPI(M-L), were present. Similarly, at the district level, similar meetings are being conducted which are being attended by parties outside the Left Front.
"Our stand is clear that in West Bengal, we want unity of all forces who are anti-BJP and anti-Trinamool. As regards to what will be the banner, discussions can continue," Salim said.
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