Saugata Roy rules out joining hands with Cong for WB polls, says 'TMC can fight BJP alone'

On Tuesday, TMC leader Saugata Roy rubbished the possibility of his party merging with Congress to take on BJP in the West Bengal Assembly polls due in April-May this year. He was referring to WB Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's advice to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee to fight under his party's leadership to stop BJP. He had also accused TMC of trying to finish Congress, which he claimed was the only party to "keep secularism intact for 100 years".

Rejecting the chances of joining hands with Congress, Roy alleged that the latter was a very small force in West Bengal. To buttress his point, he highlighted that Congress won only two seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Urging the Congress party to contest on its own, the TMC MP exuded confidence in his party fighting BJP alone.

Read: Mamata Banerjee Threatens 'Will Send People Disturb BJP Meetings" Amid TMC-BJP Clashes

TMC's anti-BJP front offer

Earlier on January 13, Roy had appealed to the Left Front and Congress to back West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in the fight against BJP. Speaking to the media, TMC MP Saugata Roy observed, "If the Left Front and the Congress are genuine anti-BJP forces, they should line up behind Trinamool Congress, because Mamata Banerjee's party is the only party fighting against the communal and divisive politics of the saffron party. Mamata Banerjee is the real face of secularism." However, the CPI(M) openly rubbished this offer and opined that TMC is seeking their help as its "corrupt faces" cannot pose a challenge to BJP. 

Read: Akhilesh Yadav Backs Mamata For Bengal Polls, Says 'BJP Wants To Win By Spreading Hatred'

Congress-Left alliance

For the West Bengal Assembly polls due in April-May this year, the Congress party has decided to ally with the Left parties. Incidentally, the CPI(M)'s central committee had approved the alliance in October 2020 itself. In 2016 WB Assembly polls also, Congress and CPI(M) had stitched an alliance to take on the might of the Trinamool Congress. However, this tie-up did not fetch dividends as Congress and CPI(M) bagged 44 and 26 seats respectively in the 294-member Assembly. Congress and CPI(M) have not only hinted at conducting a joint rally at the Brigade Parade ground in Kolkata but are also expected to finalise their seat-sharing deal by the end of January. 

Read: West Bengal: BJP's Dilip Ghosh Fires Fresh Salvo At Mamata, Says 'will Wipe TMC By 2021'