Congress, Left to fight 2021 West Bengal elections in alliance

The Congress top brass has approved the alliance with the Left, said Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

Chowdhury, who is the West Bengal Congress president, tweeted, "Today the Congress High command has formally approved the electoral alliance with the Left parties in the impending election of West Bengal."

The Left, which had ruled the state for 34 years until it was voted out of power in 2011, has always maintained it will fight both the ruling Trinamool Congress and Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

The Congress and Left, which are now fighting for their existences in West Bengal politics, had stitched an alliance in the last assembly elections held in 2016 summer.

However, the two parties, which were the main Opposition to the Trinamool then, had managed to win only 70 odd seats in a 294-seat assembly.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress and Left, which had fought separately, were almost wiped out as the BJP emerged as a formidable opposition to the Trinamool.

While the Congress had won only two of 42 Lok Sabha seats, the Left drew a blank.