Communist Party of India (Marxist) Politburo member and West Bengal State Committee Secretary Md Salim on Wednesday, 22 July extended solidarity with Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, who were detained in New Delhi on Tuesday following a protest. Salim simultaneously called for a broader consolidation of anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) forces across the country.

Salim's Qualified Endorsement of Congress Leadership

While Salim stopped short of an unqualified endorsement, he acknowledged — in what observers described as a roundabout concession — the role of Rahul Gandhi in anchoring opposition unity. He noted that the sit-in protest in Delhi had been under way for twenty days without a visible Congress presence, and that the detention of Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi on Tuesday had sent a clear signal to people in north India. 'CPI-M's top leadership went there, expressed solidarity, and gave a message of standing by them,' Salim said, adding that the gesture would 'strengthen the minds of people in north India.'

DYFI Rally in Kolkata

On the same day, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) — CPI-M's youth wing — organised a rally near the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. After permission was denied, the event shifted to Raja Subodh Mallick Square in central Kolkata, where a protest meeting was held against corruption in municipal bodies and the eviction of street hawkers. Md Salim was the principal speaker at the gathering.

Attack on BJP and Delhi Police

Salim drew a parallel between the use of bulldozers by BJP-governed administrations and the lathi charge by Delhi Police at Jantar Mantar, describing both as instruments of political intimidation. He alleged that the police had deployed force not against 'rioting goons or the corrupt' but against protesting students and youth, and had, in his words, 'become a party slave.' He also levelled sharp criticism at Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, alleging the minister was 'acting as a broker and agent' — a charge he extended to the BJP's ministerial ranks broadly.

The Broader Opposition Calculus

Salim's remarks underscore the delicate arithmetic of India's fragmented opposition. CPI-M and Congress have a fraught relationship in West Bengal, where they are rivals, yet both operate under the national INDIA alliance umbrella against the BJP. His public solidarity with the Gandhis signals that, at least on the question of Centre-versus-opposition confrontations, left parties are willing to set aside state-level rivalries. This comes amid growing pressure on the opposition to project a unified face ahead of upcoming electoral contests. Whether Tuesday's detentions accelerate that convergence or remain a symbolic moment remains to be seen.