With reports of violence over the upcoming panchayat polls coming in from certain parts of West Bengal, the Left and the Right are coming together against the ruling Trinamool Congress at the grassroots level.
An incident in Nadia district has emerged as a classic case when political activists belonging to opposite ideologies joined ranks to protest against the Trinamool.
CPI(M) MLA Rama Biswas took part in a protest rally along with local BJP workers and posted photographs of the protest on social media. Ms. Biswas, elected from the Ranaghat Dakshin Assembly constituency, took part in a rally at Majhergram village in Ranaghat on April 28.
Ms. Biswas told The Hindu that it was “not by any means a rally organised jointly by the CPI(M) and the BJP but a spontaneous protest by people across party lines against attacks by the Trinamool Congress on Opposition candidates.” She said that apart from CPI(M) and BJP cadres, workers of the Congress also took part in the rally. Not only the MLA but leadership of both the parties defended the decision by arguing that the rally was “not a political one” but an expression of “spontaneous protest” against the Trinamool.
CPI(M) MLA Sujan Chakraborty said, “There is nothing wrong with it (Ms. Biswas’ participation).” He said that apart from the workers of the CPI(M), BJP and Congress, “disgruntled members” of the Trinamool also took part in the rally as they too were coming under attack.
State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the rally was “organised by the BJP” and that the CPI(M) MLA took part in it. He had “no issues” with CPI(M) leaders and workers joining the BJP as his party had now become the “main Opposition to the Trinamool.”
