Mitra welcomes CPI(M)'s statement to vote in favour of Cong to

West Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra Tuesday welcomed the statement by CPI(M) politburo member Surya Kanta Mishra urging Left workers to vote in favour of Congress candidates to stop the BJP from returning to power in Chhattisgarh.

Mishra, who is a secretary of Bengal unit of CPI(M), on Monday had said that in seats where the CPI(M) or Left parties do not have candidates in Chhattisgarh assembly elections, the party workers should vote in favour of the Congress as it is the only alternative against the "communal and anti-people" BJP.

Assembly polls will be held in Chhattisgarh in two phases on November 12 and 20.

"We welcome the statement from CPI(M). We will inform the our party leadership about it. But it was CPI(M) which had walked out of the alliance after 2016 assembly polls," Mitra said while reacting to Mishra's statement on Tuesday.

The Congress and the CPI(M)-led Left Front had forged an alliance in Bengal during the 2016 assembly polls to fight against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the state.

Although the coalition failed to oust the Mamata Banerjee-led party, the alliance had managed to win 76 seats, with Congress and the Left Front winning 44 and 32 seats respectively.

However, post election CPI(M) walked out of the alliance as party's central committee had opposed the understanding.

Mishra's statement drew sharp reactions from BJP and TMC.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said both the parties are "spent force" in state politics and it hardly makes a difference whether they are fighting elections in an alliance or separately.

Senior TMC leader and West Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim said neither CPI(M) nor Congress are "serious" about fighting against BJP and that is reason all of them are having a "tacit understanding against BJP".

"The CPI(M), Congress and BJP are all the same in Bengal. Only TMC is fighting against the divisive politics of BJP," he said.