Congress, Left Front close in on Bengal LS deal, but some hurdles remain

Sources in the CPI(M) said the Left Front — comprising the CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) — has agreed to cede to the Congress’s demand of 12 of West Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats. It had been pushing the Congress to agree to 10.

The state Congress leadership expressed happiness about the development. “We are ready to leave Murshidabad for the CPI(M) provided they leave Purulia and Raniganj for us,” said a senior Congress leader.

Meanwhile, the ISF has reportedly agreed to contest six constituencies. Party leader Naushad Siddiqui, the lone non-Trinamool Congress (TMC) and non-BJP MLA in the Assembly at the moment, is likely to go up against TMC number two and sitting MP Abhishek Banerjee.

The Left Front itself has yet to reach an understanding over the constituencies. A CPI(M) leader said the AIFB has reservations about parting with Purulia, where the party believes it has good footing. The party held the seat from 1977 to 2014 before losing it to the TMC. The BJP’s Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato is the incumbent MP.

“The AIFB is adamant that it will field a candidate from Purulia, where the Congress is likely to field veteran leader Nepal Mahato. We will support him there,” said a CPI(M) functionary. AIFB leader Naren Chatterjee has said his party will not part with any of its three traditional seats – Purulia, Cooch Behar, and Barasat. “We have already conveyed in the meeting of the Left Front that we will not give any of the three seats to either the Congress or the ISF,” he said.

Basirhat is another seat that is emerging as a bone of contention within the Left as the CPI is not keen on giving it up to the CPI(M), which, it is learnt, wants to field Nirapada Sardar who was arrested last month for protesting against the Sandeshkhali incident.