CPI(M) open to future alliance with Congress in West Bengal, says Mohammed Salim

CPI(M) open to alliance with Congress in West Bengal despite separate candidates for upcoming byelections.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is open to a future alliance with the Congress in West Bengal, despite both parties fielding candidates separately for the upcoming byelections in six constituencies in the State, said West Bengal State secretary of CPI(M) Mohammed Salim. 

For the unversed, the Congress and the CPI(M)-led Left Front have not engaged in a seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming byelections on November 13, bringing their long-time electoral understanding in the State to a halt. The Congress and CPI(M) fought the 2024 Lok Sabha election in West Bengal together.

“A Left-Congress alliance would have been great. But time was limited before the upcoming byelection, and discussions could not take place because of the change of guard in the West Bengal pradesh Congress committee,” Mr. Salim said on Tuesday, referring to the appointment of Subhankar Sarkar as the president of the WBPCC in September.

Mr. Sarkar replaced party veteran Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who was known as the force behind the Left-Congress alliance in West Bengal since 2016.

Mr. Salim also highlighted that in the upcoming byelections, the Left Front in West Bengal has made seat adjustments considering parties outside the Left Front. A candidate of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) has been fielded in the Haroa seat and a candidate of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation has been fielded in the Naihati seat.

“Considering our arrangement in the previous byelection, the Congress was supposed to get one more seat in this byelection but we could not communicate and arrive at a decision on time,” Mr. Salim said. “There is no misunderstanding. The chairperson of the Left Front has also spoken to the Congress leadership here so that our liaison and communication can be strengthened in future.”

The Congress’s nominees in West Bengal are Paresh Nath Sarkar (Naihati), Habib Reza Chowdhury (Haroa), Bikash Champro Mary (Madarihat), Shyamal Kumar Ghosh (Medinipur), Tusharkanti Sannigrahi (Taldangra), and Harihar Roy Singha (Sitai).