CPI(M) accuse TMC of unleashing reign of terror in West Bengal

The CPI(M)-led Left Front today organised a sit-in here to protest against Trinamool Congress' alleged reign of terror, which they claimed has rendered thousands of Left workers homeless in West Bengal.
Accusing the TMC leadership of letting loose a reign of terror, CPI(M) state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra today said TMC was using threat and intimidation tactics against opposition activists who have worked for the party during the last Assembly polls.
"TMC is attacking our party workers and cadres. They are using threat and intimidation tactics to force MLAs, councillors and public representatives in local bodies to join TMC. Opposition MLAs are being threatened. They are filing false cases against our cadres. Thousands of our party workers and Left Front activists have been rendered homeless. Even during this Puja season they are not allowed to return," Mishra alleged.

"The CM must ensure that all those who have been evicted are allowed to return to their homes before the Pujas. The murder of democracy must stop," he said.
Accusing the TMC of inflicting "unprecedented" violence on Left cadres in the state, the LF leadership claimed more than 180 Left workers over the past five years have been killed by TMC goons.
They also claimed that more than 12,000 party workers were presently homeless across the state.

"Since May 2016 after the election results were announced, 12 Left activists have been killed. No where in India has such a planned and systematic attack taken place to eliminate a political formation and its movement. What is happening in West Bengal is a savage and premeditated attack on democracy, the democratic rights of citizens and their right to lead a dignified life," the Left leadership said at the protest programme.

Plagued by defections and infighting, the beleaguered Congress and CPI(M) were finding it difficult to keep their flock together in the face of the Trinamool Congress juggernaut in West Bengal.
In the last few months since the Assembly poll results were out delivering a thumping majority to the Trinamool Congress, the party managed to take over various Opposition-controlled municipalities and panchayats in the state, with councillors and panchayat members shifting to the TMC fold either from Congress or Left Front constituents.