Congress and Left Front close in on Bengal Lok Sabha deal, but some hurdles remain

Following aweek of negotiations, the Congress is close to finalising a seat-sharing pact with the Left Front and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) in West Bengal. But, some differences within the Left have not been ironed out yet.

CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Salim on Tuesday morning left for Delhi, where he was expected to meet senior Congress leaders and finalise the agreement. The Left, Congress, and ISF had contested the Assembly polls together in 2021.

Sources in the CPI(M) said the Left Front — comprising the CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) — has agreed to cede to the Congress’s demand of 12 of West Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats. It had been pushing the Congress to agree to 10.

The state Congress leadership expressed happiness about the development. “We are happy the Left Front has agreed to our demand of 12 seats. We are ready to leave Murshidabad for the CPI(M) provided they leave Purulia and Raniganj for us,” said a senior Congress leader.

Meanwhile, the ISF has reportedly agreed to contest six constituencies. Party leader Naushad Siddiqui, the lone non-Trinamool Congress (TMC) and non-BJP MLA in the Assembly at the moment, is likely to go up against TMC number two and sitting MP Abhishek Banerjee.

The ISF initially demanded 14 seats but last week announced it would be content with eight. A senior CPI(M) leader said the top leadership of the party, including Bikash Bhattacharya, Salim, and Biman Bose, held talks with the ISF brass. “We are confident that they will agree not to field candidates in Jadavpur and Murshidabad,” said the party functionary.

But the Left Front itself has yet to reach an understanding over the constituencies. A CPI(M) leader said the AIFB has