Little surprise if Trinamool joins hands with BJP: CPI-M

With general elections approaching, CPI(M) today said it would be of "little surprise" to it if Trinamool Congress joined hands with BJP and Narendra Modi to share the spoils of office.

"It would be of little surprise if the projected RSS-BJP Prime Ministerial aspirant receives positive vibes from the West Bengal Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee). The Gujarat CM as PM and West Bengal CM would, indeed, be a lethal cocktail threatening the future of Indian secular democracy," senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said.

Observing that it was "ominous" that an "attack on democracy and civil liberties" was going on in West Bengal "when there seems to be a rightward shift in Indian politics", he said "it is well-known that Trinamool Congress has absolutely no reservations or any compunctions in doing business with the RSS-BJP."

"For being party to share the spoils of office, Trinamool Congress would be willing to do business with RSS-BJP or Congress," Yechury said in an editorial in the forthcoming issue of CPI(M) organ 'People's Democracy'.

"Having left the ruling NDA on some reason, she (Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee) rejoined the Union cabinet soon after the 2002 communal carnage in Gujarat. Obviously, she suffered from no sense of guilt to associate with the Union cabinet that virtually condoned the Gujarat communal pogrom," he said.

While Trinamool aligned with Congress in the 2009 general elections and 2011 assembly elections with Banerjee serving as the Railway minister under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said, "The Trinamool Congress chief has displayed utter contempt for any political commitment or sincerity."

But in pursuit of their ambitions through political opportunism, Banerjee's party "cannot be permitted to destroy the foundations of democracy and democratic institutions that grievously undermine the democratic rights and civil liberties of the people," Yechury said, adding 142 Left cadres were killed since it assumed power in Bengal.