Kolkata, March 12 -- With Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP announcing their candidates, the CPI(M) is learnt to have set a deadline for the Congress in reaching an understanding in terms of seat sharing in Bengal for Lok Sabha election.
Following the collapse in talks between TMC and the Congress for seat sharing in Bengal, the state unit of the grand old party had said that it would instead tie up with the Left, akin to the understanding in the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections, for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. However, the TMC has dared the CPI(M) to contest alone in all 42 seats in Bengal.
In the wake of such a scenario, the Left is learnt to have asked Congress to convey its decision by Wednesday else it will field its candidates in all 42 seats. It was learnt that the Left has also decided that it is impossible to spare the number of seats that are being demanded by the Indian Secular Front (ISF).
State Congress unit chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who was in favour of an alliance with the Left than with Trinamool in Bengal, is learnt to have remarked that there were initial talks with the Left but no concrete decision was taken regarding an alliance. He said Congress is a national party and hence the decision is taken from Delhi. One has to wait for it, he said. Sources said that the top leadership of the grand old party has given a nod for the alliance with Left but no talks could be held as of yet at the state level. Meanwhile, the Left is also in a dilemma as an alliance with Congress could also complicate its understanding with its other allies such as the CPI and the RSP who are not ready to let go of the seats they wish to field candidates from. Forward Block is learnt to have also objected to the idea of a seat sharing with the Congress.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.