Unhappy with the CPI(M) led Front in West Bengal, Congress on Tuesday hinted that It might go alone in West Bengal for the upcoming Lok Sabha Polls 2019. A Congress State Leader said that the final call will be only taken after Congress Election Committee Meeting that is slated for Wednesday.
According to party sources, the Congress has already sought bio-data of prospective candidates for all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
“We are now preparing to contest the Lok Sabha polls alone in the state. The CPI(M) and Left Front seem to be adamant on some of the seats. The talks don’t appear to be moving forward. So it’s better to contest alone,” a senior Congress Leader familiar with the development said who don’t wish to be named.
The development came days after CPI(M) managed to take on Board – Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) – in a bid to forge an allice to take on TMC, BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha Polls 2019.
However, another Left Front constituent Forward Bloc is not ready to toe the line, as the party is keen on contesting Purulia, Coochbehar and Barasat parliamentary seats in which the Congress also wants field its candidates.
Apart from these three seats, ‘Raniganj and Murshidabad seats continue to be the bone of contention. On our part, we (Congress) want to contest at least 18 seats. But the CPI(M) is ready to give us only 12 seats out of 42 Lok Sabha Seat in the State. So it’s better to go it alone’ said another Senior Congress State Leader.
Raniganj and Murshidabad are the only two seats that are represented by the left in the state which was once its stronghold. These two places, however, are known as pockets of the Congress in the state.
The Left Front, which has to distribute seats among its constituents, is keen on fielding candidates in at least 31-32 seats.
The Indian National Congress currently has four Lok Sabha Seats in Mamata Banerjee’s bastion West Bengal. Mausam Benazir Noor, the MP from Malda North, defected to the ruling Trinamool Congress in January. Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee announced that Noor will be the TMC candidate from the same constituency in the upcoming General Election and campaign for the party in all districts of North Bengal.
Earlier in December last year, West Bengal Congress had conveyed to its Central Leadership that party wants to go alone in the Lok Sabha Polls slated for due April-May.
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