Trinamool-JMM poll tie-up stings Jharkhand Left
MANOJ PRASAD

RANCHI, MARCH 26: The decision of the Trinamool Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) to contest the coming Assembly elections in West Bengal as partners has left Jharkhand communists fuming‘‘Both these parties and their leaders are opportunists no. 1. They have joined hands not for any ideological consideration but for unbridled lust for power,’’ said CPI secretary Upendra Chaurasia.

CPI(M) state member Sudhir Das, angered by what he described as the JMM-Trinamool’s ‘‘tactical pact’’, said : ‘‘If these parties have any support in West Bengal, it is largely confined to the section of reactionary forces comprising landlords and capitalists who have ganged up to oust the government of the working class there.’’

This belt has 32 seats. The JMM, which contested five of these seats in 1996 and was defeated, will now take on nine seats, including Arsa, Raipur, Jhargram, Sulboni, Nayegram, Nagrakota.

The Trinamool will contest in the other constituencies, JMM secretary Shailendra Bhattacharya said.

Though Soren and Rai are confident that together their parties will benefit electorally, a stung Chaurasia dubbed their alliance as ‘‘a marriage of convenience’’.

Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.