Kolkata, Nov 3 (PTI) CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday said the party had converged with the Trinamool Congress in the opposition INDIA alliance with the sole aim of defeating the BJP at the Centre.

He said all non-BJP parties must come together to save the country's 'secular and democratic' fabric.

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Pointing to letters and reactions from CPI(M) party members questioning the presence of Mamata Banerjee-led TMC in the INDIA bloc, Yechury said the party leadership has always maintained that the Trinamool Congress cannot be an alternative to BJP.

"If we have to save India and its people, we have to separate the BJP from controlling government power and state power," he said.

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Speaking at the inauguration of a three-day extended session of CPI(M)'s West Bengal state committee at Howrah, Yechury alleged that whenever there is a crunch situation, the TMC compromises with the BJP-led NDA.

Stating that the question is why the TMC is there and if it is, then why should CPI(M) be there in the opposition INDIA alliance, Yechury said, "If we have to save India and its people, we have to separate the BJP from controlling the government and state power."

Holding that such issues had cropped up in the party earlier too, he said, "You enlist the support of whoever is willing at this moment, being fully aware that it will not be consistent, there can also be betrayals on the way."

He recalled how the Left Front had won the 1977 assembly elections in West Bengal after parting ways with the Janata Party in the state.

On accusations of corruption against TMC leaders, Yechury claimed that the ruling party in West Bengal is "anti-people and anti-democratic and they destroyed the entire concept of democratic elections in the state."

Asserting that while the target is to defeat the BJP, Yechury said there's also a need to focus on democracy and people's rights against attacks by the TMC in Bengal.

Yechury said after achieving the bigger goal of defeating the BJP, other issues can come up.

The CPI(M) leader claimed that the BJP government is trying to rewrite the history of the country, including that of the Mughal era and British rule.

"Learning from history is the foundation for any society's development," the CPI(M) leader said.

Stating that price of onions have risen to Rs 80 per kg in Delhi, Yechury said, "Since 2014, prices of every commodity has risen by at least 30 per cent on an average."

Claiming that nearly 40 per cent of the country's graduates are unemployed, Yechury said, "India has one of the highest youth unemployment in the world."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)