As Bengal poll battlelines clear, Humayun Kabir looks for allies

New Delhi, Feb 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) The political battlelines for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections are becoming clearer, with major parties firming up their strategies even as smaller players continue efforts to find relevance through alliances.

Reports suggest that the ruling Trinamool Congress is close to finalising its candidate list, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are preparing to contest independently.

The Election Commission has already initiated preparations for the polls, and the announcement of the election schedule is expected in the coming weeks.

The Left Front, which governed West Bengal for over three decades, is yet to finalise its seat-sharing arrangement with the Indian Secular Front (ISF), although the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), its principal constituent, is understood to have made progress towards that objective.

However, the CPI(M) still needs to secure the consent of other Left Front partners to formalise the arrangement.

Among its allies, the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) had earlier opposed the proposed seat-sharing understanding with the ISF and fielded candidates in several constituencies, despite efforts by the CPI(M) leadership to maintain alliance unity.

Left Front chairman Biman Bose now faces the task of persuading alliance partners to arrive at a consensus.

Sources indicated that CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim has once again agreed to concede the Deganga Assembly constituency to the ISF.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, the AIFB had fielded a candidate from Deganga, who finished fourth with fewer than 3,000 votes, reflecting a sharp decline in support compared to the party’s performance in 2016.

The Trinamool Congress retained the seat, while the ISF candidate finished second, trailing by more than 32,500 votes.

The Left Front, which had contested the previous Assembly elections in alliance with the Congress, failed to secure significant electoral gains, with the ISF winning only the Bhangar seat, represented by its founder Naushad Siddiqui.

The ISF had also sought the Raninagar seat, where the Congress had lost to the Trinamool Congress candidate by nearly 80,000 votes, but the CPI(M) is learnt to have retained that constituency within the Left Front’s quota.

Naushad Siddiqui is likely to contest again from Bhangar, which he currently represents in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly.

Meanwhile, the Janata Unnayan Party (JUP), floated by former Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir, appears politically isolated after its high-profile launch coinciding with the foundation stone laying ceremony of a proposed replica structure associated with the Babri Masjid.

Kabir, who had earlier represented the Trinamool Congress, has projected himself as a potential political force and expressed ambitions of emerging as a kingmaker after the Assembly elections.

He explored possible alliances with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the CPI(M), but those efforts have not yielded results so far.

A recent breakfast meeting between Kabir and CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim drew criticism, following which the Left leadership appeared to distance itself from any potential understanding.

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi had also shown interest in expanding the party’s presence in West Bengal after its electoral gains in Muslim-majority constituencies in Bihar in recent elections.

However, AIMIM’s organisational expansion efforts in West Bengal have remained limited so far.

Kabir has recently appealed to the CPI(M) leadership to reconsider its alliance strategy, although such a development appears unlikely at present.

Muslims constitute over 30 per cent of West Bengal’s population, with significantly higher concentrations in districts bordering Bangladesh.

Political parties have traditionally sought to consolidate support among minority communities, which remain an important factor in the state’s electoral landscape.

Source: IANS