The Congress and the Left Front have decided to share seats in the Assembly by-polls in three constituencies again after the 2016 Assembly elections. While Congress will contest in Kaliaganj in North Dinajpur and Kharagpur in West Medinipur district, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front will contest in Karimpur of the Nadia district. The election dates are yet to be declared.
The Left Front and Congress did not have a seat-sharing adjustment in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and both parties performed badly.
While the Congress secured two out of 42 seats, the Left Front secured none and the seat adjustment did not materialise after several rounds of negotiations. One of the reasons for Left Front’s half-heartedness in sharing seats with the Congress in the Lok Sabha was complaints from local leaders.
The Left’s district leaders complained that while the Left Front’s votes transferred to the Congress in the 2016 Assembly polls, Congress’ votes did not. The CPI(M)’s senior leader and central committee member Sujan Chakraborty, however, underscored a separate point of view while explaining why the Left and the Congress were coming together in the 2019 Assembly by-polls.
‘Atmosphere vitiated’
“There is a sharp rise in communalism in the country and the State. Increasingly the State’s atmosphere is getting vitiated. While the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is equally responsible along with the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) in spoiling the atmosphere, we felt — in line with last year’s (party) resolution — that we need to work together with forces that are democratic to an extent,” Mr. Chakraborty told The Hindu .
Talking about the transfer of vote share from the Congress to the Left, Mr. Chakravorty said that he hoped the Congress would take a proactive position in transferring the votes. .
State Congress president Somendra Nath Mitra had told journalists earlier that “together, we will able to defeat the BJP and the TMC.”
