Kolkata: Left red-faced and clueless over the Congress central leadership cosying up to the TMC, the CPI(M) is now pitching hard for the unity of the Left forces and is planning to stay away from any joint movement with the Congress in West Bengal.
A meeting of the CPI(M)-led Left Front today took place at the CPI(M) headquarters where it was decided that the Left Front will launch a movement against the “rise of communalism and fundamentalism” in the state from January.
But the Congress, whom the CPI(M) had been considering an ally in the fight against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and communalism, will not be invited, a senior Left Front leader said.
The development is significant as the CPI(M) West Bengal unit, since this year’s Assembly polls, has been talking of forging a greater unity of the Left, secular and democratic forces, including the Congress, to counter the TMC and the rise of the BJP and “communalism” in Bengal, political analysts said.
The recent bonhomie between Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has disturbed the political equation in Bengal as the CPI(M) and the Congress state unit remain clueless about how to respond to the development.
“The problem with the CPI(M) is that it never accepts its mistakes. It will rectify them, but will not accept them. Now, after the snub, the CPI(M) is planning to rectify its mistake of aligning with the Congress. It has stopped talking about the greater unity of the Left, secular and democratic forces, which included the Congress. Now, it is only talking about Left unity and steps to strengthen it,” the senior Left Front leader told PTI on condition of anonymity.
The Left allies went hammer and tongs against the CPI(M) and said it should learn lessons and stop ignoring its time-tested allies.
“It has only agreed to conduct a programme keeping aside the Congress. We hope that the CPI(M) has taken lessons from its mistake of relying more on the Congress and ignoring its age-old allies. We welcome it,” another Left Front leader said.