Ahead of the crucial State committee meeting of the Communist Party of India(Marxist), senior leaders of the CPI(M) and the Congress shared stage here on Wednesday and discussed the possibility of an understanding for the upcoming Assembly polls .
While CPI(M) politburo member Mohd. Salim said it was time to respect the aspirations of the people and get rid of the Trinamool Congress government, State Congress general secretary Om Prakash Mishra also echoed similar views and said this was not the time to think about past.
Meanwhile, at a public rally in the State’s Purba Medinipur district, leader of the Opposition in Assembly and CPI(M) State secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra said that “people’s unity is emerging” and will remove the TMC from power.
“Whether there will be an alliance, it is for the leaders of both the parties to decide. But the real issue is your alliance -- the alliance of the people,” Dr Mishra said.
In Kolkata, Mr Salim admitted that the Congress and CPI(M) have in the past been pitted against each other, but the political realities are different now.
Seminar on polls
“It is true that we had opposed the Congress during Emergency. But presently the situation in the State is nothing but unannounced emergency. This is not the time to think about past differences, but to work together towards the common goal of progress of Bengal,” he said at the seminar titled ‘West Bengal Assembly Elections -- The Way Forward’.
The Congress leader present at seminar said that aspirations of the people are of paramount importance in politics and this is what that has drawn the parties together.
The timing of seminar is crucial as it comes ahead of the State committee meeting of CPI(M) beginning later this week. It is believed that a formal proposal for an understanding with the Congress will be discussed at this meeting. The proposal will be sent to the party’s central committee for its final approval.
