Mamata Banerjee doesn't reject outright anti-BJP platform with Left

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday did not reject outright the idea of a common platform with Left parties to fight BJP.

Asked whether Left and Trinamool Congress could join such a common platform at the national level, she told a news channel that "at the national level, it is a platform to fight the battle against communalism and vandalism." To another question on whether she would share a platform with CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat, she said "that is a common minimum agenda. It is just like a platform to fight against communalism."

However, she said the Left was "finished" in West Bengal. "They have their own ideological policy, I have my own ideological policy. That is a different question," a statement by the TV channel quoted her as saying. However, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury ruled out any alliance with Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and said TMC is talking of an alliance to save its political space in the state.

It was due to the policies of Congress that communal forces have gained ground in the country and Trinamool Congress had helped communal forces to grow in Bengal because of its vote bank politics, he said.
"TMC is now talking of unification of secular forces. What are their credentials? It is the Trinamool which has fed communal politics to the state. Now when they are losing grounds, they are talking of an alliance with secular forces. There can be no alliance with an anti-democratic, communal, and opportunist political force like TMC," Yechury said in Kolkata.