Uphill Bengal battle gets tougher for Left-Congress, ISF drops out

In another setback for the Left-Congress alliance in West Bengal, the Indian Secular Front (ISF) has decided to go its own way, declaring that it plans to contest all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The ISF had fought the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021 in alliance with the Left, which was also tied with the Congress, and was the only one of the three to win a seat in the House. Formed just ahead of the 2021 polls, the ISF had performed impressively in last year’s panchayat elections as well, and had been in talks with the Left for the Lok Sabha polls.

As part of its deal with the Congress, the CPI(M)-led Left Front has left it 12 seats, on two of which the Congress is staring at the prospect of a ‘friendly fight’ against Left Front constituent Forward Bloc.

The ISF announced its decision to go solo at a press conference Thursday, addressed by its lone MLA and its chief, Pirzada Naushad Siddiqui. The Bhangar MLA said the ISF will no longer participate in seat-sharing talks, and announced candidates for six Lok Sabha seats — Jadavpur, Balurghat, Uluberia, Barrackpore, Diamond Harbour, and Basirhat — as well as for the Bhagawangola bypoll that is also coming up. Earlier, the ISF had announced candidates for eight Lok Sabha seats.

Incidentally, 14 seats had been its original demand to the Left Front.

The ISF’s plans had been a matter of speculation ever since Siddiqui initially announced that he would himself be fighting TMC No. 2 and two-time sitting MP Abhishek Banerjee from Diamond Harbour, but later backtracking on the issue. In its list of candidates announced Thursday, it named Majnu Laskar from Diamond Harbour.

After the press conference, Siddiqui justified his decision, saying: “Although I was keen to contest,