By IANS
Kolkata : The Congress party Monday urged Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee to sever her ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and join it to form an anti-Left alliance in West Bengal.
Leader of the Congress state legislature party, Manas Bhuniya, said: “It’s good that Mamata Banerjee has responded to our appeal for formation of a Progressive Secular Democratic Front to take on the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) government in the state. But she would have to state clearly that her party has no ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).”
He said the Congress has already initiated steps for formation of the front.
“The alliance can only be possible in West Bengal if Trinamul Congress disassociates itself from the BJP, which has no presence in the state,” Bhuniya said.
Last month, Banerjee had announced the formation of a political alliance to fight the ruling Left Front in the coming local body polls in West Bengal and welcomed all political parties, except CPI-M, to participate in it.
She said her party would approach all political parties including Left Front partners – the Forward Bloc (FB), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) – to join the front.
The front would be officially formed Dec 20 after discussions with other political parties.
Senior state Congress leaders like former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Somen Mitra and present PCC working president Pradip Bhattacharya had earlier expressed their willingness to join an anti-Left coalition in the state.