West Bengal Assembly polls | Those who believe in democracy support the Samyukta Morcha, says Bengal Congress chief

The Samyukta Morcha is offering an actual different to the individuals of West Bengal in opposition to the aggressive communalism of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress, says West Bengal Pradesh Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who has performed an important function in forging the alliance of the Congress, the Left and the Indian Secular Front. The Congress is contesting 92 seats.

We have by no means witnessed an Assembly election in West Bengal the place the Bharatiya Janata Party has tried to create a divide in the voters by means of its communal propaganda in such a blatant method. On the different aspect of the political spectrum is the Trinamool Congress underneath which the individuals of the State have suffered for therefore a few years.

It is attention-grabbing to see the Trinamool Congress, which has stifled democracy in the State, telling the people who they’re preventing for restoration of democracy. Democracy and secularism are an integral a part of the tradition of West Bengal, and we symbolize that drive. Those who believe in democracy and need to shield the State from the communal aggression have joined us, the Samyukta Morcha. This drive that was avoided the mainstream media narrative has not solely been capable of make its mark however can be getting the support of individuals. The individuals are responding to the marketing campaign of the Samyukta Morcha and the greatest instance was our rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds.

Again, that is a unprecedented election if we have a look at the method in which the Prime Minister and Home Minister are coming to West Bengal. Both the Home Minister and Prime Minister are very busy people, however they’re coming to West Bengal frequently, virtually addressing road nook conferences. Bengal polls are their greatest agenda and all of us noticed how 22 jawans misplaced their lives preventing Maoists in Chhattisgarh. Other than that, each the BJP and TMC are concerned in mudslinging and the actual points referring to polls have been forgotten.

Anyone who has lived in West Bengal is aware of about it. For a selected instance, the panchayat polls of 2018 is a transparent occasion when the ruling social gathering didn’t enable the Opposition to file nominations. On virtually 20,000 seats at the three-tier panchayat degree, the Trinamool Congress didn’t enable candidates of the Opposition to contest. On the day of the panchayat polls, 80 to 100 individuals misplaced their lives. If the BJP desires to make sure there’s a Congress-mukt Bharat, the Trinamool Congress desires an Opposition-free West Bengal — each events have the identical goal. That is why we are saying that the TMC and BJP are two faces of the identical coin.

Defections have been by no means part of the politics in West Bengal until 2011. It is the Trinamool Congress that began the politics of defection proper from its bid to imagine energy by making an attempt to poach MLAs of the opposition events. Even in 2016, when 44 of our MLAs gained the polls, the Trinamool Congress began engineering defections. More than 20 of those MLAs have joined the Trinamool Congress — both lured by favour or being coerced by concern utilizing the State equipment. Such defections have been carried out at the mirco-level in the civic our bodies and the Opposition misplaced management over all them.

Now when the BJP is engineering defections in the Trinamool Congress, poaching ministers and different key leaders and MLAs from the Trinamool Congress, all I’ll method say is that the TMC is being paid again in the identical coin.

The earlier alliances have been half-baked and half-hearted. Even in 2016, the distinction of votes was solely 30 lakh which signifies that had we received simply 46 votes extra in each polling sales space we might have gained. This time we now have been capable of forge an alliance based mostly on discussions which have been began a lot earlier than the polls.

We are campaigning on the foundation of a typical minimal plan. Along with Left events we now have additionally accommodated the Indian Secular Front. Our message to the voters is evident — individuals ought to vote in opposition to divisive and different forces which might be a risk to democratic and secular values, that are the mattress rock of the tradition of West Bengal. The individuals are clever sufficient to make a distinction.