Congress, Left Front give indications of understanding for Bengal panchayat polls

Kolkata, May 10 Barring extraordinary circumstances that might emerge later, it seems clear that the CPI-M-led Left Front and Congress will be having an understanding in the forthcoming West Bengal three-tier panchayat system polls this year, as top leaders of both parties have given clear indications on this count.

The foundation of this understanding will be laid at a joint rally organised by Congress and Left Front at Suri in Birbhum district on Thursday, which is supposed to be addressed the CPI-M politburo member and state Secretary Mohammad Salim and the Congress' state chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

The venue of the meeting will be the same ground at Suri, where Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a rally last month and said that if BJP wins 35 out of 32 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal in 2024, then the Trinamool Congress state government might collapse even before 2025.

According to Salim, if the people of all levels get united against the misrule of Trinamool Congress and the communal politics of BJP, then the leadership of neither Left Front nor Congress will stand as hurdles for that unity. "The people of West Bengal are getting united in demand for peaceful voting in the panchayat polls as well as against corruption and communal politics. We will combat corruption and communal politics at the same time," he said.

According to Chowdhury, in the last panchayat polls in 2018, there was no situation for opposition parties to even field candidates in all the seats. "Before every election the Trinamool Congress promises free and fair polls. But in reality, all the elections are marred by massive violence by the state's ruling party. This time we will try to fight that violence by uniting the people," he said.