Cong-Left Front to launch joint movement after Durga pujas

In a bid to regain its lost political ground, West Bengal Congress on Thursday said the party has decided to launch joint movements with the CPI(M)- led Left Front across the state after the Durga Puja festival.

The announcement by state Congress president Somen Mitra was welcomed by CPI(M) politburo member Mohammed Salim who said secular and democratic forces join hands now need to fight against the "authoritarian" TMC government in the state and the BJP regime at the Centre.

"After the Durga Puja, we would launch joint movements with the CPI(M) in West Bengal. We will have a common minimum programme and chalk out plans based on it to fight against the TMC and BJP the," Mitra said at a party rally here.

The way the BJP is gaining ground in the state, it is imperative that the CPI(M) and the Congress join hands to stop the march of "the communal forces", he said.

Salim blamed the TMC for the growth of the BJP in the state.

"It is the TMC which has helped the BJP grow in Bengal. The fight between the TMC and the BJP is a mock fight, aimed at fooling the people. It is high time that secular and democratic forces come together," he said.

The development comes in the backdrop of West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee statement on Thursday that only her party can fight against the BJP in the state as both the CPI(M) and the Congress have become "spent forces".

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the people have rejected the CPI(M) and the Congress and has chosen the saffron party as the only alternative to end the "misrule of the TMC in Bengal".

The BJP in the last few years has made deep inroads in the state and has come up as the main challenger of the ruling TMC by pushing the traditional Congress and Left Front to distant third and fourth positions respectively.

The BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections bagged 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, just four less than the TMC. The TMC's tally has come down from 34 in 2014 to 22 seats in this election.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front has drawn a blank and the Congress' tally has come down from four to two in West Bengal.

The CPI(M) and the Congress had forged an alliance in West Bengal in 2016 Assembly polls it failed to evoke much impact.

In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-CPI(M) proposed alliance fell apart after both the parties failed to reach an agreement on seat sharing deal.