CPI(M) Rules Out Alliance With TMC in Bengal, Says Secular Parties Will Take on BJP, TMC Together

 

Bengaluru, July 17 : CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Monday ruled out any alliance with the TMC in West Bengal and said that secular parties along with the Left and the Congress will take on the BJP as well as the TMC in the state.

Speaking to reporters at the venue of a two-day meeting to be attended by him, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and other leaders, Yechury referred to the 2004 model which brought the Left-Congress coalition to power at the Centre.

"The situation is different in every state. The effort is to ensure that in these situations the division of votes which gives BJP the advantage should be minimal. This is not a new thing. Like in 2004, the Left had 61 seats, out of which we won 57 defeating the Congress candidates...then Manmohan Singh government was formed and it ran for 10 years," he said.

Yechury's statement comes amid speculation that the TMC and the Left may form an alliance in West Bengal to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, the CPI(M) leader has made it clear that the party will not have any truck with the TMC in the state.

"We have our own ideological differences with the TMC. We cannot compromise on our principles. We will fight the BJP and the TMC together," he said.

The two-day meeting of opposition parties is being held in Bengaluru to discuss the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The meeting is being attended by leaders of 22 opposition parties, including the Congress, the CPI(M), the CPI, the NCP, the RJD, the SP, and the DMK.

The meeting is expected to discuss a common minimum programme and a strategy to defeat the BJP in the 2024 polls.

Key Points:

• CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury rules out any alliance with the TMC in West Bengal.
• Secular parties along with the Left and the Congress will take on the BJP as well as the TMC in the state.
• The 2004 model of the Left-Congress coalition will be the basis for the opposition unity.
• The two-day meeting of opposition parties is being held in Bengaluru to discuss the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.