West Bengal Elections: CPI(M) to take a call on alliance with Congress after gauging public mood

 Stating that the party will take a call on any electoral alliance after gauging public mood, CPI(M) Politburo member Mohammed Salim on Tuesday said the "people of Bengal" want to forge an alliance with CPI(M) to oust the "corrupt" Trinamool Congress from power.

Replying to a query about senior Congress leaders Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury and Somen Mitra wanting to forge an alliance with the CPI(M) before the Assembly elections in the state next year, Salim said, "Not only they, but the people of Bengal feel if you have to oust the corrupt TMC from power, you have to forge an alliance with the CPI(M)." Salim's comments came a day after party general secretary Sitaram Yechury had said the matter of forging an alliance with the Congress ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls would be discussed and debated in the party's Bengal unit in January.

Salim said whenever CPI(M) takes a call in this regard, the opinion and views of the people would be kept in mind. "People want to forge an alliance to oust this government of corrupt and criminals. Whenever we take a decision in this regard, we have to keep the desire of masses in mind and and take a call respecting their views," he told reporters on the sidelines of a press meet.

The alliance issue has been cropping up for sometime with a section of the Bengal CPI(M) leadership and state Congress leaders reportedly rooting for such a tie-up to take on the ruling Trinamool Congress in the elections.
Salim also lashed out at a section of media for projecting the BJP as an alternative to the CPI(M) in Bengal.

"After the Lok Sabha polls, a section of the media had started projecting BJP as an alternative to the CPI(M). But, after that you could not find BJP anywhere in the state. It was a concocted campaign against us," he said.