A top CPI leader said Friday he has received an invitation from the TMC to attend its rally of opposition parties in Kolkata, but has turned it down.
The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) has called a rally of opposition parties on January 19 in the West Bengal capital.
The TMC has sent invitations to all opposition parties, including the Congress, for the event.
"She (Banerjee) has sent me an invitation. But, I have decided not to participate in it," CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy told PTI Friday.
Explaining the reasons for skipping the event, he said the relationship between his party and the TMC was not good in West Bengal.
"Her party leaders and her 'goondas' have taken over our party offices (in West Bengal), they are attacking Left parties physically; political criticism is different; so I have decided not to participate in it," Reddy said.
The CPI is not attending the rally has come as no surprise as it and other Left parties are the main political rivals of the TMC in West Bengal.