Trinamool tactics giving Left an edge: Cong

Congress leaders believe their ally Trinamool has done the same thing the Left Front used to do when it was in power — disrupt a fair poll process — and handed an advantage to the CPM in the process.

A day after polling took place for six civic bodies across the state, in which the Trinamool Congress and Congress contested separately, senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan alleged that 20-25 per cent false voting had taken place and polling agents could not raise their voices because they were under constant threat.

"During the Left regime, we have seen the administration favouring the ruling party during an election. The same thing is being witnessed again during the rule of the new government. The Trinamool is our main ally but they never had any mental adjustment with us. Their principles are rather in line with that of BJP and CPM," Mannan said.

Asked if the CPM would get an advantage from the rift between the Congress and Trinamool, he said, "Of course. Where the CPM would have been defeated by our combined strength, they would easily win against the divided two."

Debabrata Basu, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president, also said they had been deterred from conducting pre-poll meetings. "At Haldia, resistance was created by Trinamool cadres against our meetings, at Pashkura the lights on our stage were switched off. We have to tolerate this government for another four years," he said, adding that it was impossible to defeat the CPM with this divided strength.

"They have 44 per cent votes. How does the Congress or Trinamool defeat them singularly?" he said, hinting that with the two allied parties at loggerheads in this election, the CPM will get an invariable edge in the forthcoming panchayat elections.

Trinamool MP Subhendu Adhikary, however, termed these allegations "baseless". "They had previously alleged that people would not be able to come out and vote. They had been proved wrong. Now they are making other baseless allegations. It is clear that the Congress has nothing to combat the Left with. It is a straight fight between the Left and the Trinamool," he said.

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