© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
West Bengal is one of at least four states where the Opposition INDIA alliance is likely to run into trouble over seat-sharing despite Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee’s statement she is ready for an alliance with the CPI(M) and the Congress. The ground, however, is at odds with her comment. Between the CPI(M)’s rigid stance and the Congress’s hesitance, seat-sharing negotiations for the Lok Sabha polls are unlikely to go smoothly.
Mamata’s latest comment “was for the all-India audience”, CPI(M) state secretary and former MP Mohammad Salim told The Indian Express. He said, “That is positioning, not her politics. Secondly, the rest of the country should know the complications of Bengal politics. Every state has its peculiarity. Bengal also has its uniqueness. So here we don’t think that anyone siding with Trinamool will be able to fight the BJP. Because the BJP and the RSS are already in the league of Trinamool. You saw Mamata Banerjee attending the INDIA meeting on December 19 and meeting the Prime Minister the very next day.”
He added, “Her meeting with (PM Narendra) Modi took place at a time when Opposition members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were thrown out of Parliament. That itself says a lot about her position. We want to fight the BJP tooth and nail. But we should not show any leniency to those who are playing second fiddle to the BJP.”
Asked if there was no possibility of an alliance, Salim drew a distinction. “INDIA is not an all-India electoral alliance. State-wise we have our electoral alliances. It is about Opposition unity, the Opposition coming together against the BJP’s onslaught. Mamata says we are interested in seat adjustments and not in a political campaign. We are interested in a political campaign,” he said.
A section of the Bengal Congress is unwilling to break ties with the CPI(M) and does not want the TMC as an ally.
Lok Sabha MP and state unit chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, known to be anti-TMC, took a softer stand and supported TMC MP Mahua Moitra when she was expelled from the Lok Sabha this month. This led to criticism from a section of the state Congress.
A senior Congress leader claimed allying with the TMC would hurt the party’s prospects among Bengali-speaking Muslims and force it to cede the gains made earlier this year when it won the Sagardighi bypoll. “Our win in Sagardighi bypoll in February-March gave a clear signal that Bengali-speaking Muslims are shifting towards us in the Malda-Murshidabad-Uttar Dinajpur districts, where we were historically strong. We have a clear chance to win five to six seats,” the leader said. “But if we go for seat adjustment with the TMC, they will not give us more than four seats and that will weaken us and the Bengali-speaking Muslim vote bank will again move away from us. On the other hand, if we fight against the TMC with the Left Front, we will get help from the ISF, which also has a strong organisation in these districts.”
— With inputs from Manoj CG
