Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would not be sharing platform with the CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury at Brigade Ground in Kolkata on February 28.
Only the West Bengal unit president of the party Adheer Ranjan Chaudhary and party’s in-charge of the state Jitin Prasad would be taking part in it.
According to the party sources, Rahul would not be going to campaign for any Left Front candidate in the state though his party is going to contest the coming election in alliance with it. Rahul, who had skipped a couple of rallies in West Bengal would now only address public meetings in the constituencies where his own party’s candidates are in the fray.
Rahul Gandhi’s latest move is being attributed to the hardening of his stand towards Left Democratic Front in Kerala where he is campaigning extensively. He is now openly criticising the LDF chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Analysts are of the view that Rahul is not keen to disrupt the poll prospects of Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, who was a partner in UPA-II. In fact, it was Congress-TMC alliance which overthrew Left Front in West Bengal in 2011.
The alliance broke in the second term largely because of the stand of the state-level leadership of the Congress.
As the Congress wants to do politics in the future too it is not going to antagonise Mamata Banerjee too much.
On the other hand, the Left Front has not forgiven Mamata as she was the one who fought the Communists for almost three decades and subsequently defeated them in 2011.
The Congress does not want to take the blame for the defeat of Mamata at the hands of the BJP. In fact, its strategy would be to divide BJP’s vote-bank rather than of Mamata, said a Bengal watcher.
