Bhunia extends olive branch to Trinamool

Moots joint movement against the Left Front government

The West Bengal Congress today extended an olive branch to Trinamool Congress (TMC) and appealed for joint movements against the ruling Left Front's “Marxist onslaughts” in the state, even as he drew out a schedule of the party's actions this month.

The move comes less than a week after the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) announced that it was looking at forming an alliance with former partners of the TMC, in what was seen as a measure to build pressure on the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit before the state went to the hustings early next year.

"We welcome any response from our friends in the Trinamool Congress, which is of course a bigger party and is spearheading the anti-CPI(M) agitation, to our suggestion for a joint move to resist Marxist onslaughts," WBPCC president Manas Bhunia said today.

Bhuina said that Congress would harp on the “economic bankruptcy” and the "politics of violence" by the CPI(M). “We will utilise every minute to corner this atrocious government in the House in the coming winter session of the assembly beginning on December 10,” he said.

Relations between the Congress and TMC, the principal Opposition in West Bengal, have been on unsteady grounds due to seat sharing arrangements from as early as last year, when the CPI(M) was wiped out in the Lok Sabha polls.

The agreement between the two parties is widely expected to be tested in the upcoming elections too. More recently, the Congress general secretary, during a visit to the state, said that his party was serious about the alliance, but would cannot “bow our head” before the TMC.

Meanwhile, detailing the party's programmes, Bhunia said that party workers would gherao DMs and SPs offices in Burdwan, East Midnapore, Howrah and North 24 Pargana districts. Offices of DMs and SPs in East Midnapore would be gheraoed on December 6 and in Birbhum the next day, Howrah on December 8 and North 24 Parganas on December 9.

"I will personally visit Burdwan on December 14 and gherao their offices to protest the passive police and administration during the marxist attack on Trinamool Congress workers that left two dead at Raina on Wednesday," Bhunia said.

The WBPCC chief also announced a gherao of the state secretariat by student wing Chhatra Parishad on December 15.