Jan. 29: Congress leader Priya Ranjan Das Munshi today called for another attempt at stitching together a grand alliance of anti-CPM forces before the 2006 elections.

?I want Mamata (Banerjee) and similar other anti-CPM forces to form a mahajot to ensure the CPM?s defeat in the coming Assembly polls,? he told a rally in Durgapur.

?Other parties carrying Left banners are not safe in the CPM?s regime and they are welcome to our anti-CPM front,? he added.

Adhir Chowdhury, the Murshidabad Congress chief, was present but former PCC chief Somen Mitra and Congress legislature party leader Atish Sinha stayed away.

Trinamul defection

About a dozen Trinamul Congress councillors of the Bolpur municipality led by former MLA Sushovan Bandopadhyay will re-join the Congress on January 31.