Signs of reciprocation

A post in the Chinese Whispers column ("Left-Congress bhai-bhai", January 5) had noted that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in West Bengal might be ready to extend an olive branch to the Congress. It appears now that the state Congress is ready to reciprocate the gesture. West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee President Adhir Chowdhury has said that his party workers want to forge an alliance with the CPI-M to oust the "undemocratic" Trinamool Congress (TMC) regime in the state. He has put the ball in the party high command's court to take a call on the matter. "The TMC and the Bharatiya Janata Party are trying to spread communalism in Bengal. It is up to the secular forces in the state to unite and fight against these communal forces," Chowdhury told journalists.