 "Fight against 'communal forces' may lead to grand alliance")
At the Congress conference in Vigyan Bhavan here on the 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee greeted the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s, or CPI(M)'s, Sitaram Yechury and the Communist Party of India (CPI)'s D Raja with a smile. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s inroads into her state, the West Bengal chief minister goaded Yechury: "The BJP is making inroads, what are you doing?"
"They walked in, courtesy you," the CPI(M) Poliburo member answered.
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Taking a seat at the front row with Yechury, Raja and the Janata Dal (United)'s Sharad Yadav was unthinkable a year ago. Now, however, a grand alliance of secular parties to keep "communal forces" at bay seems a distinct possibility.
The JD(U), along with other parties of the 'Janata Parivaar', has begun putting together an anti-BJP and anti-Narendra Modi front.
"I may be ideologically opposed to them (the Left), but I am ready to support any secular front to oppose the communal forces. I am glad (Congress chief) Sonia Gandhi has given us the opportunity and indicated that all secular forces should come together," Banerjee told reporters later at the Trinamool Congress party office here.
While dignitaries paid glowing tributes to Jawaharlal Nehru on the dais, Banerjee continued animated conversations with Sharad Yadav, seated next to her. The camaraderie between Banerjee and Raja, her "friend from youth activist days", was evident as she told Yechury of how the two had attended a youth conference in Vietnam in 1986, where she represented the Indian Youth Congress and Raja the All India Youth Federation.
CPI(M) chief Prakash Karat was seated next to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
That Banerjee chose to sit through the proceedings, cancelling her prior appointments, was indicative of the importance of Monday's meetings. Asked whether the Trinamool Congress and the Left were joining forces against Narendra Modi, Raja limited himself to saying, "It's too early to say that. But there is churning going on…There is churning going on in the political spectrum and that is good. Just as the Janata parties have got together, we too, the six Left parties, have come together to oppose the BJP and the policies of the Modi government."
With Banerjee here for the next two days, there is talk of her holding another meeting with Sharad Yadav.
In a way, the tone for the coming together of anti-BJP forces was set by Sonia Gandhi who, in her opening address at the event's plenary, reasserted the significance of "secularism" and how only this and a parliamentary democracy could hold India together. "India's democracy has evolved over the last 50 years, sometimes in ways that would have surprised Nehru…Secularism…is a compelling necessity for a country as diverse as India."
It was expected Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal head Lalu Prasad, too, would attend the event, but they couldn't, though Prasad sent a representative, Jai Prakash Yadav. The National Conference was represented by D P Tripathi, the party's Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha.
Addressing the media, former Union minister Veerappa Moily stressed the importance of anti-BJP parties coming together on the common platform laid out by the Congress. "The legacy of Nehru has attracted these non-BJP parties. His philosophy and ideology has brought them here," he said.