WB to see hard bargaining between Left, Congress for LS polls

Kolkata: The West Bengal units of the CPI(M) and the Congress may have got the go-ahead from their central leadership for entering into a seat-sharing pact for the Lok Sabha polls but clinching a perfect deal is likely to be a herculean task for them, leaders of the two parties said.
The proposed seat-sharing deal is being opposed by the constituents of the four-decade-old Left Front, down in the dumps in the state after its mauling in the 2011 Assembly polls by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress that brought to an end the 34-year-unbroken stint of the Communists in power in the state.
The informal talks between the two parties that began sometime ago got a boost when their national leaderships gave the green signal to their state units last week to finalise the deal.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said Saturday after the party’s politburo meeting that the election partners will be chosen keeping in mind the state-level equations, while the state Congress chief Somen Mitra maintained that party president Rahul Gandhi had authorised the West Bengal unit to chalk out the electoral strategy.
The Congress, sources said, wants to contest around 20 of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats, and the Left Front, which has to distribute seats among the constituents from its share, is keen on fielding candidates in 26-28 places.
“There will be a informal seat-sharing between the two parties. We are not in a position to fight and win all the seats. So, we are likely to contest 26-28 seats, and in others, we would extend our support to secular and democratic forces, including the Congress,” a senior CPI(M) politburo member told PTI on condition of anonymity.
The CPI(M), which has considerably weakened in the state, currently has just Lok Sabha MPs from West Bengal, while the Congress has four. Mausam Benazir Noor, the Congress MP from Malda, defected to the TMC last month.
The TMC had bagged 34 seats in 2014 with 39.30 per cent votes, while the Left Front could manage just two clinching 29.5 per cent votes.
The Congress had four seats in its kitty and a vote share of 9.6 per cent, and the BJP got two seats with 16.9 per cent votes. The BJP has emerged as the main challenger to the TMC over the last few years. (PTI)