Left helped me win in Nadigram: Suvendu Adhikari
KOLKATA: In a candid confession, West Bengal’s Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has admitted that the Left parties had helped him to defeat Trinamul Congress supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly election.
Mr Adhikari also tried to woo the Left ahead of the panchayat polls for its support to take on the TMC. He asserted that all in the Left were not bad and they were a better organisation and power than the TMC. The Left, however, rejected his claims.
Mr Adhikari said at a BJP rally in East Midnapore: “I won in Nandigram because a vast section of the Left, who are also Hindus, cast their votes for me. I admit this candidly. The CPI(M) had a far bigger organisation than the TMC.”
He added: “The Left was far stronger than the TMC. They were in power for 34 years with 235 seats. Taking you with them, Lakshman Seth (former CPI-M MP) and others tackled a lot of injustice and atrocities. All in the Left are not bad. A large number of Leftists have joined us.”
State CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said: “Like Mr Adhikari can’t ignore the CPI(M) while opposing the TMC, the TMC also can’t stop itself from talking about the CPI(M) while opposing the BJP. The fact is that the TMC and BJP are hand in glove but they pretend to have a tiff between themselves outside. Surprisingly, both had vowed to ensure the red flag won’t fly again. We do not need anyone’s certificate.”
The TMC, which renewed its allegation of a BJP-CPI(M) pact, endorsed Mr Adhikari’s confession. Its state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said: “Those who were mercenaries of CPI(M) have become BJP. Mr Adhikari finally admitted this.”
