CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Thursday stressed the need for Left unity to counter “fundamentalist forces”.

The party is organising a rally named Khabardar on October 30 in answer to the BJP’s October 27 Hunkar Rally to be addressed by the latter’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. “The BJP is trying to polarise people on communal lines for political gains. Communal forces created tension in Uttar Pradesh and now want to disturb the communal harmony in Bihar. There is an urgent need for Left unity to restrict these forces,” Bhattacharya said.

The rally would also expose the “corrupt and inefficient” Nitish Kumar-led government, he said. Bhattacharya came down heavily against senior BJP leader and senior advocate Ravi Shankar Prasad — who claimed to have known every aspect of the fodder scam case — for shielding chief minister Nitish Kumar for over seven years. The CPI(ML) had also sought action against Nitish and party leaders Shivanand Tiwari and Lallan Singh in the case. Bhattacharya termed withdrawal of the ordinance protecting convicted lawmakers a victory of people’s pressure on the Centre.