TMC reaches out to Left, Cong over Assembly resolution on 'rise of communal forces' in Bengal

Kolkata: The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal Monday reached out to the Congress and the Left parties to bring a resolution in the Assembly over "rise of communal forces" in the state.

The CPI(M) and Congress, however, remained non-committal on the issue as it blamed policies of the TMC government for the growth of BJP and RSS in Bengal.

Leaders of the TMC legislature party urged the opposition CPI(M) and Congress to support the resolution, which it is planning to bring on the floor of the house under Rule 185 during the ongoing session.

"We have reached out to both CPI(M) and Congress. We want an all-party resolution (TMC, CPI(M) and Congress) on the floor of the house over the rise of communal forces in the state. We think it is high time that at least on the issue of communalism we should oppose it together on the floor of the house," Minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs Tapas Roy told reporters.

"We hope by tomorrow we would be able to sort it out. There will be a meeting in the speaker's chamber in presence of TMC and CPI(M) and Congress and a final call on the matter would be taken," Roy said.

Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan said his party doesn't have any problem with the resolution, but added that he wants the reasons behind the growth of communal forces in the state to be discussed as well.

"We want that the reasons should also be discussed behind the growth of BJP in Bengal. In 2011, BJP had only 5-6 percent vote share and within eight years that has gone up to 40.5 percent. Who is responsible for it? It is the policy of the TMC, their political strategy of wiping out opposition, which has created space for BJP in Bengal," Mannan said.

"We are not here to just sign on the resolution brought in by TMC. If they agree to discuss the reasons, we will think over it," he said.

Left Front legislature party leader Sujan Chakraborty echoed Mannan.

BJP legislature party leader Manoj Tigga said they would oppose the resolution.

Banerjee had last week tried to reach out to the Congress and CPI(M) to join her in fight against the BJP in the state, but the two parties rejected her appeal saying her policies were responsible for the saffron party's growth.

The BJP came up with a stupendous performance in the recently-held Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal by winning 18 of the 42 seats in the state, only four less than the TMC's 22.

Buoyed by the performance, BJP leaders are now claiming that their next target is to overthrow the TMC from power in the 2021 state elections.