Bengal CPIM questions Mamata Banerjee's silence over Narendra Modi's candidature

KOLKATA: The opposition CPIM in West Bengal has raised questions about Mamata Banerjee's silence over BJP's decision to project Narendra Modi as their Prime Ministerial candidate. "Why Mamata Banerjee is silent about Modi's candidature at a time when all the secular forces in the country have joined hands with us to struggle against the communal forces like BJP ?," CPIM politburo member and opposition leader in the state Surjya Kanta Mishra told a CPIM rally here on Thursday.

He also complained that " Trinamool Congress has a soft corner for the BJP and they have secret links with the saffron party and that is why Mamata Banerjee is silent over Modi's Prime ministerial candidature."

The four Left parties had organised a convention in New Delhi on October 30 to launch movement against the communal forces like the BJP. Key non-BJP chief ministers like Nitish Kumar, Navin Patnaik and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav had attended the convention. Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha had also attended the convention. But no representative from Trinamool Congress had attended the gathering even though it was organised to fight the communal forces in the country.

Mishra also came down heavily on Mamata Banerjee and her party for not allowing the police to take action against her party workers who had been involved in attacking Left party workers in different parts of the state. "If the police refuse to protect you, you yourselves form platform by involving the common people to thwart attacks of the ruling party," the party leader pointed out.

A senior Trinamool Congress leader told ET on Thursday that "Why should we attend a convention which was organise by the Left parties. Ideologically, we are opposed to the Left parties and that is why we have not attended their convention. Moreover, we have our own way to fight the communalism and we will do so at a proper time."