Amid Bengal seat tussle, Left, Congress, ISF struggle to pick a face against Abhishek Banerjee

With the Lok Sabha polls less than two-and-a-half weeks away, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the principal Opposition BJP in West Bengal are ramping up their campaigns, but the seat-sharing agreement between the CPI(M)-led Left Front, Congress and Indian Secular Front (ISF) has still not been finalised due to lack of consensus between them over several constituencies.

Of these third front allies, the Congress and the CPI(M) are major constituents of the Opposition INDIA bloc. Although the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is also a key INDIA player, it is going solo for all 42 seats in the state after its alliance talks with the Congress failed.

The seat-sharing troubles besetting the third front in the state now also involves the high-profile Diamond Harbour seat, where the incumbent TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata’s nephew and political successor, is again contesting.

The Diamond Harbour constituency largely spreads over South Parganas district adjoining Kolkata.

Last year, ISF chief Naushad Siddiqui, the MLA from Bhangar in South 24 Parganas, announced that he was ready to take on Abhishek in the Lok Sabha polls if his party would agree. Both the CPI(M) and the Congress welcomed Naushad’s decision, with the former maintaining that it would extend full support to Naushad if he enters the fray in Diamond Harbour.

However, since the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections last month, Naushad has been silent about his proposal to fight Abhishek, with the CPI(M) waiting for his final decision.
The ISF has however declared its candidates for eight seats, even though the Left is not ready to allot the party more than four seats. The CPI(M) has already fielded its candidates from two of these seats – Murshidabad and Serampore.

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