Now Congress gives formal alliance call to CPI-M

Kolkata, Feb 28 (IANS) Giving a formal call for a purported poll alliance with the CPI-M and other Left Front partners, the Congress' West Bengal unit on Sunday invited all democratic and secular forces to join hands "to preserve democratic values" and "establish the rule of law" in the state.

The call came in the form of a small four-line media release issued by state Congress chief president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

"On behalf of Pradesh Congress Committee, I am inviting all democratic and secular forces in Bengal to join together in order to preserve democratic values and establish the rule of law in West Bengal," it said.

State Congress spokesperson and general secretary Om Prakash Mishra made it clear that the call was directed at the Communist Party of India-Marxist and other Left Front partners as also all secular anti-Bharatiya Janata Party and anti-Trinamool Congress forces.

"We want a people's alliance. We want an anti-BJP and anti-Trinmool secular democratic alliance. Of course we want the CPI-M and other Left Front partners in this alliance.

"We also want the Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and other forces which want to defeat the Trinamool Congress and rally together against the communal politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party," said Mishra.

"We had earlier announced there would be an alliance. Today we have given the formal and official approval on the alliance process."

Mishra said Chowdhury made the formal announcement on behalf o the state party and with the concurrence of the party's central leadership.

In an Left Front meeting on February 11, all constituents had given the stamp of approval on holding alliance talks with the Congress, but put the ball on the Congress court, saying it has to approach them first with the proposal.

On February 18, the CPI-M central committee virtually cleared the decks for its first ever tactical electoral tie up with the Congress in the state, by seeking the cooperation of all democratic forces to defeat the Trinamool in the coming assembly polls.