Kolkata: The Kolkata
streets are awash in a curious mix colors: the bright red hammer and sickle
flag of the CPM side by side with the green-white-saffron flag of the Congress,
as the three-phase election in Kolkata is about to begin on Thursday.
A joint campaign was seen at Kolkata's Dum Dum on Sunday - led by CPM
Parliamentarian Ritabrata Banerjee and Congressman Somen Mitra, who briefly
joined Trinamool, but now wants it out of Bengal. The new allies are confident
of weeding Trinamool out of the state. “It is an unprecedented situation, a
complete reign of terror in the state," said Banerjee. “It is a question of people's will.
The people have decided a united fight needs to be there to give a fitting rebuff
to the Trinamool,” he added.
Mamata Banerjee has called the alliance unprincipled and opportunistic.
But the new friends shrug it off. “Was it an ideological alliance when she
joined BJP?” questioned Mitra. “Mamata Banerjee saying something about
opportunism is a joke. She is the citadel of opportunism," added Banerjee.
Plain arithmetic is driving the politicians. In many of Bengal's 294
Assembly seats, Congress and Left votes added up to more than Trinamool’s in
the last elections. Apparently, it has given pause to voters. Watching the
Congress-CPM procession go by, Kapil Chowdhury said, “People are thinking about
the alliance, weighing options. They will think about it.”
Phase three of West Bengal Legislative
Assembly election 2016 on April 21, will see voting taking place in 62 constituencies.
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