Unite Left forces to defeat Trinamool, BJP: Buddhadeb tells CPI-M workers

Kolkata, April 26 (IANS) With opinion polls indicating the BJP has left his party far behind in emerging as the principal opponent to West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress in the upcoming Panchayat polls, CPI-M stalwart and former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Thursday urged Marxist workers not to stay away from the elections but unite all Left forces to defeat both these parties.

Accusing the ruling Trinamool of vitiating the Panchayat system fashioned by the erstwhile Left Front regime, Bhattacharjee said its activists have robbed the people of their rights and indulged in corruption.

"We want to change the prevailing situation. We have to re-establish the supremacy of the people in the panchayat system. Towards that end, I appeal to all workers of my party and other Left parties to unite.

"We have to reach out to the masses, and this we have to do not by staying away from the elections. We have to move forward taking along the masses by resisting the attacks," Bhattacharjee, who has been ailing for a long time and confined to home for the last six months, said in a statement.

Describing the Panchayat polls as a fight for life and livelihood, he said while the ruling party needs to be defeated, "the state has to be saved from the ignominy of witnessing BJP's victory".

He appealed to the CPI-M workers to put the party on a strong footing in every polling booth and constituency.

"We have reached the climax of the electoral struggle. Make it successful. I have faith in the Left ideology and strength of the people," he said.

Bhattacharjee's statement comes at a time when pre-poll surveys have claimed that the BJP has emerged as the main opponent of the Trinamool. Amid allegations of widespread violence during the nomination filing process, the BJP has been able to put up candidates in far more seats than the Left Front.

Bhattacharjee, however, said the statement represented his concern over the attacks on his party workers, candidates and their families for the past few days in an effort to force them to stay away from the polls.