Kolkata, Nov 18 (IANS): To protest against the 'anti-people' policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the Centre, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) and the Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M) will jointly take out a rally in Kolkata on November 23.

The decision to hold a joint rally was taken in a meeting between the state Congress leaders and their CPI-M counterparts on Tuesday.

Party insiders said that both the formations will take out joint programmes across Bengal districts to emerge as a third political alternative in the coming Assembly polls scheduled in 2021.

"Both the parties met to prepare the roadmap for the coming Assembly polls," sources said.

The meeting was attended by senior CPI-M leader Biman Bose, Surya Kanta Mishra, Manoj Bhattacharya, WBPCC President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Abdul Mannan, among others. The joint rally would be the first step towards forming a joint campaign strategy in Bengal to counter the incumbent Trinamool Congress and the BJP.