Left Front will retain power in Bengal: Tripura chief minister
Agartala, April 19 (IANS) The Left Front would be voted back to power in West Bengal for an eighth term, Tripura Chief Minister and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Manik Sarkar said here Tuesday.
"A section of the media and people are projecting that the Left Front would be voted out by the Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance in the ongoing assembly elections. All these predictions and analyses would be proved wrong," Sarkar told reporters.
The Tripura chief minister would be going to Kolkata Wednesday to campaign for the ruling Left parties in the communist bastion. He would be addressing at least two rallies a day till April 25 in South and North 24-Parganas and Howrah districts.
Coming down heavily on a section of media, Sarkar said: "Some media organisations have been declaring results before the elections. People of Bengal... are politically conscious and will definitely choose the right party and people."
"The Left Front headed by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will certainly retain power in Bengal," he said.
Sarkar, 63, who completed 13 years as chief minister of Tripura last month, had earlier campaigned for the Left parties in Kerala, Assam and Tamil Nadu, where assembly elections are already over.
Polling for the first phase of West Bengal polls in 54 assembly constituencies was held Monday.
The elections for the 294 seats West Bengal assembly are being held in six phases. The balloting ends May 10 and the counting of votes will be May 13.