Kolkata: Days after the CPI(M) asked the Congress to take a call on an alliance before the West Bengal Assembly elections, WBPCC general secretary Om Prakash Mishra today wrote a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi urging her to seize the opportunity and be at the forefront of the electoral and political battle with TMC and BJP.
“In the last three days two CPI(M) Politburo members, Mohammed Salim and state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra have openly voiced their support for a tie up with Congress and had called upon the Congress leadership to take an expeditious decision.
“We must seize this political opportunity before us. Congress must be at the forefront of the electoral and political battle to defeat TMC and BJP. Should we decide on the tie up with the Left Front, it would be a win-win situation,” Mishra, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) general secretary wrote in his letter.
Mishra’s letter comes after CPI(M) state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra, while addressing a rally on January 10, said “It is now time for the Congress to decide yes or no. Now, the Congress has to decide what it will do. They have to talk to their high command. It may take time. (But) the sooner they take the decision, the better.”
This was Om Prakash Mishra’s second letter to Gandhi urging her to take a call on an alliance between the Congress and the Left Front.
Citing the inevitable conclusions of the alliance with the CPI(M), Mishra said it shall have a positive impact throughout the country for the revival of the Congress.
Without naming, he also took a dig at Congress leader Manas Bhuniya, who had been advocating for “fighting independently’ in the Assembly polls.
“Fighting alone means four cornered contest. This is what the TMC wants. Our desire lies in defeating TMC’s desire. So, advocates of the independent line want to perpetuate the TMC misrule. This is a deliberate attempt to weaken the prospects of Congress and strengthen the electoral prospects of TMC,” Mishra said.
He also pointed that a victory in Bengal, which has 42 MPs, would help in reviving Congress’ future in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.