West Bengal elections: Congress constitutes four-member committee to begin seat-sharing talks with Left

The Congress on Monday constituted a four-member committee under the chairmanship of West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to hold talks with Left parties regarding seat-sharing and joint programmes for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections. Among the committee members are Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Abdul Mannan, Pradip Bhattacharya and Nepal Mahato, ANI reported.

Last month, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury informed that the high command had given its approval to tie up with the Left in West Bengal. In a tweet on December 24, the Congress leader in Lok Sabha said: “Today the Congress High command has formally approved the electoral alliance with the #Left parties in the impending election of West Bengal.”

The Congress had also contested the last assembly election in alliance with the Left. In the last election, the CPI-M had contested 148 seats and won 26. The Congress had contested 92 but won 44, registering a better strike rate than its partner in the state. The TMC had swept the election by winning 211 of 295 seats.

The time, the contest is expected to be tough for the ruling TMC as the BJP has made massive inroads in Bengal. The BJP did well in the last general elections and won 18 Lok Sabha seats with close to 41 per cent vote share, just 2 per cent less than what TMC got. The BJP has sharpened its attack on Mamata Banerjee in the recent past. Home Minister Amit Shah recently said that his party will form the next government by winning over 200 seats. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has also announced that his party will contest the next assembly polls in Bengal.