Rise of Indian Secular Front in Bengal: Furfura Sharif outfit to TMC rival in Muslim pockets

The ISF was founded by the Furfura Sharif sufi shrine’s cleric Peerzada Abbas Siddiqui, Naushad’s elder brother, ahead of the 2021 Bengal Assembly polls with the avowed objective to ensure “social justice” for Muslims and Dalits in the state. Naushad joined the ISF as its chairman.

The ISF made its debut in the 2021 Assembly elections, contesting in an alliance with the CPI(M)-led Left Front and the Congress. While the Left and the Congress failed to open their accounts, the ISF bagged one seat with Naushad winning from the Muslim-dominated Bhangar constituency in South 24 Parganas district near Kolkata.

In just four years since, the ISF has expanded its footprint in some districts, sharply making its mark in state politics.

In the three-tier panchayat election in 2023 swept by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Naushad-led outfit put up a good showing in several Muslim pockets across the state, winning 336 seats – 325 seats in gram panchayats, 10 seats in panchayat samitis, and one zila parishad seat.

In the panchayat polls, the Left-Congress alliance had an understanding with the ISF. However, in the wake of the alliance’s decimation in the 2021 Assembly polls, the CPI(M)’s Central Committee (CC), in a review of the polls in August 2021, stated that “during the course of the campaign the seat adjustments with the Congress party and the Indian Secular Front were projected under the terminology of Sanjukta Morcha as a United Front calling for an alternative government. This was wrong and not in consonance with the CC understanding”.

The CPI(M)’s top body also said that the Left’s “electoral understanding based on seat adjustments did not emerge cohesive with the Congress party largely disowning the ISF”. Referring to the ISF, it stated: “Irrespective of the secular nature of its programme and candidates fielded, emphasising on candidates from marginalised sections could not completely erase the image of it being a Muslim minority outfit”.

In the violence-marred panchayat polls, the ISF performed well in North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Malda districts. The party also got seats in Hooghly, East Midnapore, Nadia and Murshidabad districts.

In its stronghold in Bhangar, the ISF won 43 seats, even as the belt saw massive clashes between the activists of the ISF and the TMC during the entire panchayat polls. Their clashes began during the filing of the nomination papers, which claimed three lives. The violence raged in the belt even on the counting day (July 11, 2023) that killed three youths, including two ISF supporters.

The ISF snapped its ties with the Left-Congress coalition on the eve of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, fielding candidates against the CPI(M) and the Congress in some key seats. Of them, only the Congress managed to win one seat, with the TMC winning 29 seats as against the principal Opposition BJP’s 12 out of the state’s 42 seats.

In several Lok Sabha seats such as Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar and Mathurapur bagged by the TMC, the ISF finished third – ahead of the Left candidates and behind the runner-up BJP. In some Assembly segments like

Bhangar, Deganga and Haroa in the Jadavpur, Barasat and Basirhat Lok Sabha constituencies respectively, the ISF even managed to get second position.

A senior ISF leader said, “We experimented by going solo in the Lok Sabha elections to gauge our individual strength in different parts of Bengal. This would now help us in bargaining with our potential alliance partners for the 2026 Assembly polls.”

The Furfura Sharif shrine in Srirampore sub-division of Hooghly district has many followers in Bengal, which accounts for about 30% Muslim population, of which more than 50 per cent are Bengali-speaking Muslims. The ISF’s support base is said to be mainly among a section of Bengali-speaking Muslims.

The Siddiqui brothers also belong to a political family. Their uncle Toha Siddiqui has had close ties with the TMC. The brothers launched the ISF as a party that would oppose both the TMC and the BJP, pledging to fight for poor Muslims, Dalits, and Adivasis by reviving the grassroots unity between these groups in the state.

While launching the ISF, Abbas Siddiqui had said, “In Bengal, years of Congress regime, followed by the rule of CPI(M) and then Trinamool Congress did nothing for Muslims or poor people.”

Referring to the upcoming Assembly polls, an ISF leader said, “In our efforts to stop the BJP, our party is ready for any pre or post-poll alliance with non-BJP parties. But the TMC should first apologise for neglecting Bengal’s Muslim community. In constituencies where the ISF does not have its candidates, it will back other candidates against the BJP.”

An ISF insider said, “Our main strength is our religious outreach which is popular in minority-dominated areas of South Bengal. Also Naushad Siddiqui’s popularity as a young leader has also helped our expansion across the state. He has acceptance among the Hindu community too.