Cracks in opposition unity? INDIA ally CPI(M) won’t tie up with ‘principal adversary’ TMC in Bengal for 2024
CPI(M)’s stand triggered speculation that the Congress may adopt a similar strategy.
Kolkata: The central committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), on Sunday allowed its West Bengal unit to field candidates against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls with other state being free to formulate strategies that suit the purpose of INDIA, the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition of regional and national parties.
“CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury told central committee members in Delhi after a three-day meeting that the ground reality in Bengal is quite different from other states. He said although isolating BJP is the sole purpose of the opposition alliance, the CPI(M) Bengal unit cannot turn into an ally of TMC, its principal adversary,” a senior CPI(M) leader said on condition of anonymity.
In Bengal, where BJP has set a target of winning 35 of 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2024, up from the 18 it did in 2019, the opposition coalition faces an interesting challenge.
CPI(M) politburo member and Bengal state secretary Md Salim said: “The binary is clear. BJP thinks it will get the anti-TMC votes. That cannot be allowed. Let Congress take its decision on Bengal. We have made ours.”
Incidentally, in the 2011 assembly polls in which TMC unseated the 34-year-old Left Front government, Mamata Banerjee was an ally of the Congress. The national party later walked out of the coalition government.
CPI(M)’s stand triggered speculation that the Congress may adopt a similar strategy.
“Going for an electoral alliance with TMC, against which we have contested all polls since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, will only help BJP, cefeating the core purpose of INDIA; all anti-TMC votes may land in the BJP’s kitty,” a senior Congress leader said on condition of anonymity.
The peculiar situation in Bengal has been discussed by the Congress national leadership as well, the leader added.
“ People opposed to TMC will not waste their votes on us if we become allies of the ruling party. Having been in power at the Centre since 2014, BJP may become the natural choice for the electorate,” the Congress leader added.
A staunch critic of Mamata Banerjee, Bengal state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who has often accused the chief minister of having a “close understanding” with BJP, did not want to comment on having an alliance with TMC.
“The BJP is free to make its calculations on loss and gain. We are far away from any alliance as of now. What’s the point in speculating?” Chowdhury said.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP took its tally in the state from two (in 2014) to 18. The TMC’s tally came down from 34 to 22 while the Congress lost two seats and retained two. The CPI(M) lost both seats and has no Lok Sabha member from the eastern state.
The BJP’s tally however has come down to 16. Babul Supriyo resigned from the Lok Sabha and joined TMC in 2021. His Asansol seat was won for TMC by actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha in a bypoll. Another MP, Arjun Singh, returned to TMC in 2022 without resigning from the Lok Sabha.
In terms of vote share, BJP secured 40% against TMC’s 43% in 2019.
A Bengal BJP leader, who did not want to be named, said: “In the recent July 8 panchayat polls, TMC won around 57% of Bengal’s 73887 seats across all three tiers. BJP won almost twice as much gram panchayat seats won together by Left and Congress in 17 of Bengal’s 22 districts. The INDIA alliance will help us further.”
Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya claimed that even if TMC forms an alliance with Congress, voters will still support Prime Minister Narendra Modi .
Although he did not reject the idea of forging an alliance with anti-BJP forces, TMC’s veteran Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy claimed his party does not need allies to win in 2024.
“Irrespective of whether the INDIA alliance works out in Bengal or not, BJP will find it tough to retain more than seven to eight seats. The panchayat results showed the reality. Mamata alone is capable of winning all seats.”