CPM, BJP join hands to take on TMC in panchayat polls

The run-up to the panchayat elections in West Bengal, slated to be held on Monday, has silently brought two archrivals, BJP and CPM, together at least at the grassroots. Workers of both parties have decided to support each other wherever one could not file nomination due to the alleged hooliganism of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).

This bonhomie first came to light when a joint rally was organised in the Ranaghat area of Nadia district by the CPM and BJP to protest against the violence unleashed allegedly by the TMC during the nomination filing process for the panchayat elections.

However, senior leaders from both parties maintain that it is “not a formal seat sharing adjustment” and that state level leaders have nothing to do with this kind of understanding between the workers of the two parties.

District and block level leaders of both parties who spoke to The Sunday Guardian, however, said that the main aim of such an understanding is to try and contain the TMC.

The fierce battle for panchayat polls in West Bengal has been mired in violent clashes and litigation. The BJP has filed over 30,000 nominations in the 58,000 panchayat seats, while the CPM has filed 21,750 nominations. Some 18,000 seats stayed uncontested where the ruling TMC had no opposition; however, the Supreme Court has stayed the declaration of results in these uncontested seats.

One senior BJP leader from Nadia district told this corre-