Following her shocking defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections, former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made an unexpected appeal to non-BJP parties in the state to form a united front against the saffron surge. Her call included the Left front, a long-time rival with whom the state has witnessed decades of political violence.
However, Banerjee's outreach failed to gain traction, with the CPI(M) even terming her corrupt and communal. "Absolutely not. We will not accept anyone identified as criminal, extortionist, corrupt, and communal,” CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
"We will stand by the people and the marginalised,” he said.
The Congress state unit also criticised Banerjee’s invitation to ultra-Left groups. State spokesperson Soumya Aich Roy questioned, “Do you mean the Maoists, who killed 18 Congress leaders and workers in Chhattisgarh on May 25, 2013?”
CPI state secretary Swapan Banerjee similarly dismissed her appeal, alleging that democracy was under threat during her tenure.
Banerjee issued her appeal on Saturday, the same day BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as West Bengal Chief Minister after his party’s landslide victory, winning 207 of the 294 assembly seats.
“I call upon all opposition parties, including the Left and ultra-Left, to come together to form a joint platform against the BJP,” she said, adding that she is open to dialogue with any political party willing to participate.
“It is not the time to think the enemy's enemy is my friend. Our first enemy is the BJP,” she asserted.
The TMC, which had governed the state for three consecutive terms since 2011, was reduced to 80 seats in an election dominated by the BJP’s surge under Adhikari.
A potential alliance between CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress faces historical and practical hurdles. West Bengal’s political landscape has been marked by decades of clashes between these two parties.
According to reports, hundreds of deaths were linked to election-related violence between 2006 and 2011, particularly during CPI(M)’s rule. In Nandigram and Singur, clashes between Left and TMC workers were frequent, and a three-way confrontation involving Maoists during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in the Junglemahal region resulted in 15 deaths.
Left Front chairman Biman Bose confirmed that at least 269 party supporters were killed between 2009 and 2010. Violence continued even after the TMC came to power in 2011, with CPI(M) leaders alleging that 183 Left workers were killed during Banerjee’s first term.
Direct clashes between the two parties subsided only after the BJP emerged as a major challenger following the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
