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BJP not to oppose Cong candidates in West Bengal

The West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has dropped a bombshell by announcing that it will not field any candidate in seats where Congress nominees had emerged victorious in the last assembly election.

State party chief Asim Ghosh told rediff.com that his party would refrain from putting up a candidate in 80-odd seats while discussing seat adjustment proposals with the Trinamul Congress.

Justifying the move Ghosh said," This is primarily to ensure that anti-Left votes do not get dissipated among various parties. That would help the Communist Party of India-Marxist to retain power in West Bengal. CPI-M has been winning elections by taking advantage of this division."

Ghosh's decision appears to have stirred a hornet's nest within his own flock. Muzaffar Khan, the BJP's state vice-president, expressed his shock over the decision. He told rediff.com that the move was a blunder.

"We had indeed discussed the possibility of not contesting 80 odd seats in next year's assembly polls. However, nowhere was it said that any one party should benefit from this move. Why should we help the Congress, which remains adamant about maintaining a distance from our party?" Khan asked.

State Congress chief Pranab Mukherjee said the BJP's move, however, wouldn't motivate his party to shed its inhibitions about the saffron brigade. "All I can say is that if the BJP goes ahead with this move, it will definitely benefit us. However, the BJP better not expects us to reciprocate. We are committed to fight both the Communists and communal parties like the BJP," he said.

"While communists have brought West Bengal to the brink of bankruptcy, the BJP's communal agenda poses a serious threat to the country's democratic set-up and integrity," Mukherjee added.

Sources within the BJP said that the decision to avoid facing a direct confrontation with the Congress was a tactical move by the party to bring the latter an inch closer to a mahajot, a grand alliance of non-Left parties.

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