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Left allies to set ball rolling on Oct 9

By PRANJAL BHUYAN

GUWAHATI, Oct 6 - Formal talks among the Left parties regarding the 2021 Assam Assembly elections will commence later this week.

Leaders of four Left parties � the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or the CPI(M), the Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation and the Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI) � will meet here on October 9, where preliminary discussions regarding the Assembly polls will take place.

�During the meeting the four parties will discuss a number of issues, including the Assembly elections, besides the current political situation of the State, and the recently passed Central laws dealing with the farm sector and the workers, among other issues. As the next Assembly elections are only a few months away those will definitely be the most important subject of the meeting,� CPI Assam State Council secretary Munin Mahanta told this newspaper on Tuesday.

He said that the idea is to try and reach minimum understanding among the Left parties on matters of electoral tactics and strategies. �We need to present a united front of all anti-BJP forces in Assam and for that we first need understanding among the constituents of the Left Front,� he said.

He added that a three-day meeting of the CPI�s State council was held in Guwahati last week. �Our State council has urged all the anti-BJP democratic parties and organisations to come together for an electoral alliance to save the future of Assam. Defeating the BJP is our primary aim. On October 9 we will exchange views with the other Left parties regarding the coming elections and on strategies to be adopted for defeating the BJP,� Mahanta said.

Asked if the CPI is willing to join the proposed �grand alliance�, he said, �We are ready to explore the option. The Congress party has floated the idea of the grand alliance. AIUDF has given its consent to Congress� proposal. We have also discussed the matter in our party forum. The onus lies with the Congress as it is the largest opposition party. The Congress must adopt an accommodative attitude towards other anti-BJP forces.�

Suprakash Talukdar, CPI (M) central committee member, said that the Assembly elections will be the major subject of discussion during the October 9 meeting.

�It will be a preliminary discussion to exchange views and opinions among the Left Front allies. After the deliberations, we will also look to holding a meeting of the Left Democratic Manch, comprising 11 parties, later. We want to arrive at some sort of a formal understanding with the other Left parties regarding the 2021 polls. We will also seek to reach a common ground on ways to fight against the BJP�s anti-farmer and anti-worker laws as well as against the Central and State governments� failure on the economic front,� he said.

On the Congress� call for a grand alliance, he said the CPI(M) would soon disclose its poll plan. �We want to wait for some time before taking a decision on the alliance,� he said.

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