In another setback for the Left-Congress alliance in West Bengal, the Indian Secular Front (ISF) has decided to go its own way, declaring that it plans to contest all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The ISF had fought the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021 in alliance with the Left, which was also tied with the Congress, and was the only one of the three to win a seat in the House. Formed just ahead of the 2021 polls, the ISF had performed impressively in last year’s panchayat elections as well, and had been in talks with the Left for the Lok Sabha polls.
As part of its deal with the Congress, the CPI(M)-led Left Front has left it 12 seats, on two of which the Congress is staring at the prospect of a ‘friendly fight’ against Left Front constituent Forward Bloc.
The ISF announced its decision to go solo at a press conference Thursday, addressed by its lone MLA and its chief, Pirzada Naushad Siddiqui. The Bhangar MLA said the ISF will no longer participate in seat-sharing talks, and announced candidates for six Lok Sabha seats — Jadavpur, Balurghat, Uluberia, Barrackpore, Diamond Harbour, and Basirhat — as well as for the Bhagawangola bypoll that is also coming up. Earlier, the ISF had announced candidates for eight Lok Sabha seats.
Incidentally, 14 seats had been its original demand to the Left Front.
The ISF’s plans had been a matter of speculation ever since Siddiqui initially announced that he would himself be fighting TMC No. 2 and two-time sitting MP Abhishek Banerjee from Diamond Harbour, but later backtracking on the issue. In its list of candidates announced Thursday, it named Majnu Laskar from Diamond Harbour.
After the press conference, Siddiqui justified his decision, saying: “Although I was keen to contest, the ISF is not just for Naushad. It’s the other way around. The party has a system, and that’s our priority. Whatever decision the team has taken, is definitely for the greater good.”
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Siddiqui added, “The party thinks I should remain in Bhangar to fight for the people there. Also, if I am engaged in Diamond Harbour, who will campaign across the state? So, the party decided not to field me as a Lok Sabha candidate.”
Afterwards, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) attacked both the ISF and CPI(M). The party’s youth leader, Debangshu Bhattacharya, said, “Naushad Siddiqui said he will fight against Abhishek Banerjee, but he ran away. That is why we always say ‘Don’t claim you have eaten biriyani after actually eating panta bhat (stale rice)’.”
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said: “The CPI(M) is like a leaking jug. First, the ex-Justice (Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who is contesting on the BJP ticket) abandoned them. Now, even after trying to keep the alliance together, an entire party left them. Hey comrade, how do you feel now?”
The ISF was launched by popular Furfura Sharif cleric Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui, the elder brother of the Bhangar MLA, with social justice for the state’s Muslims and Dalits as its main agenda. In the 2023 panchayat elections, the ISF did well not just in Bhangar, but across the districts of 24 Parganas (South), 24 Parganas (North), Howrah, Malda, Bankura, etc.
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It had made its performance in the panchayat polls the basis for its 14 Lok Sabha seat demand. However, the Left Front was keen on giving just four seats, including Siddiqui from Diamond Harbour. The ISF first made its intent clear by announcing candidates for eight seats in its first list, including Serampore and Murshidabad, where the CPI(M) had already announced its candidates. The leadership of both parties sat down for several rounds of talks afterwards, but made no headway.
Siddiqui said Thursday that the alliance had finally broken down on the issue of Serampore (where the CPI-M has fielded JNU student leader Dipsita Dhar). We were ready to give up all other seats where there was a clash for Serampore. We even said we would withdraw our candidate from Murshidabad (from where CPI-M state chief Md Salim is contesting), but they didn’t agree. So, what can we do?”
Seerampore is dear to the ISF as the dargah of Furfura Sharif, which is the unofficial base of the party, falls under the Lok Sabha constituency.
On suggestions that it was acting in tandem with the TMC, Siddiqui said, “There is no question of any alliance with the TMC. While we are fighting the BJP, we are helpless if others are not serious about the fight. We have to fight the BJP, else they will enter our bedrooms.”
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Commenting on the development, Md Salim said, “We are in the battlefield fighting the BJP. Everybody else is also claiming they are fighting the BJP. But when someone only criticises the CPI(M), it’s not difficult to understand who is fighting whom.”
On Friday, the Left Front (LF) announced its candidates for five more seats, taking its total number to 28. While former Sandeshkhali MLA Nirapada Sardar is their candidate from Basirhat, Pratik-ur Rahaman will contest from Diamond Harbour and Debdoot Ghosh from Barrackpore (all three from the CPI-M), Prabir Ghosh of the Forward Bloc will contest from Barasat and Tapan Ganguly of the CPI from Ghatal.
The Congress has announced candidates on 10 seats so far.
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