Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the newly-appointed Bengal Congress president, on Thursday urged people who had switched over to other parties to return to the Congress.

“Several Congress workers in Bengal joined the Trinamul Congress or the BJP in the past few years. I request them to come back. The party will give them their rightful respect and honour,” Chowdhury told a news conference, a day after the party high command had appointed him as the state Congress chief.

The message, sources said, was an indication that Chowdhury is keen to take all factions of the party along with him in his fresh stint as the PCC chief.

In his earlier innings, between 2014 and 2018, Chowdhury was often accused of not taking all factions of the party along with him. During that stint, several Congress leaders, including lawmaker Manas Bhunia, had switched over to Trinamul.

In his first media interaction as the PCC president, Chowdhury made it clear that his appointment as the state party chief was the wish of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who had called him up on Wednesday evening to inform him about the new assignment.

The Behrampore MP said the Congress was keen on allying with the Left Front for the Assembly polls. Speaking to journalists with Abdul Mannan — the leader of the Opposition in Bengal Assembly — by his side, Chowdhury said the veteran leader, along with Rajya Sabha member Pradip Battacharya would oversee the alliance with Left parties.

“Our stand to be in an alliance with the Left parties has never changed. After the 2016 polls, the CPM had felt that the alliance had not fared well for them. However, they are willing to join forces again. We will turn this political understanding into an electoral understanding,” Chowdhury said.

“Discussions with the Left parties will begin,” he added.

He urged party workers to prepare to hit the streets against the “autocratic” rule of Trinamul as soon as the Covid-19 pandemic was over.

“The state Congress will launch a massive campaign against Trinamul immediately after the coronavirus pandemic is over. Our programs will be organised in accordance with the directions from the national leadership,” the Behrampore MP said.