'People of Bengal will teach Mamata a lesson': Left, Congress, ISF thunder at Kolkata rally

KOLKATA: The Indian Secular Front (ISF), led by Abbas Siddiqui, on Sunday vowed to defeat the TMC and BJP in the upcoming assembly elections, asserting that people of the state would teach Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee "a lesson for her arrogance".

Proclaiming support for the Left Front and its allies in the state, Siddiqui said Bengal will get the better of the BJP and "its B-team Mamata Banerjee" in the polls.

"Mamata and her TMC has destroyed democracy and unleashed anarchy. They will pay for it in the elections," Siddiqui said, addressing a mega rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds here.

The ISF has sealed a seat-sharing agreement with the Left Front for the assembly elections, while talks with Congress are underway.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury reiterated that the grand alliance of the Left- Congress and other secular forces will defeat both the TMC and the BJP in the West Bengal assembly elections.

 Chowdhury said the massive gathering proves that the upcoming elections will not be a two-cornered contest. He said the BJP and the ruling TMC desire that apart from these two parties, there should not exist any other political force in the state, which come in their path.

"In future, there will not be any BJP or TMC, only the grand alliance will remain," he asserted.

The Election Commission of India had on Friday announced eight-phase polls in West Bengal, which will commence on March 27 and conclude on April 29.