CPI-M too accuses Trinamool of 'understanding' with BJP

The CPI-M Wednesday alleged that the Trinamool Congress was in a secret understanding with the BJP, and claimed that a West Bengal minister recently shared the dais with BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

This comes just a day after the Congress accused the Trinamool Congress of having a secret understanding with the BJP.

On Tuesday, union Rural Development Minister and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh ruled out an alliance with the Trinamool, accusing it of having forged a secret understanding with the BJP for winning the Howrah Lok Sabha by-poll in July.

Addressing the media Wednesday, Communist Party of India-Marxist central committee member Mohammed Salim said state Tourism Minister Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury had shared the dais with Modi in Kerala recently.

Salim said the Howrah Lok Sabha by-election was an example of the BJP-Trinamool secret understanding.

"The BJP first named a candidate, and then withdrew from the race. Till today, the BJP has not given a concrete reason for opting out of the by-polls," he said.

Hinting that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP had been maintaining a secret link with the Trinamool, Salim said the BJP and the RSS were indulging in soft communal politics, as propagation of the communal agenda in an aggressive manner would not go down well with the state's people.

However, denying the charge, the Trinamool said it will fight the coming general elections alone, maintaining a "distance of a 1,000 kilometres" with the Congress and the BJP.

"We will go to the election maintaining a distance of a 1,000 kilometres with the Congress and the BJP. The results of the recent elections indicate people of the state want it this way," said senior Trinamool leader and state Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee.