Bengal polls: Left, Congress to retain seats won last time, final seat-sharing pact by month-end

KOLKATA: The Left Front (LF) and Congress on Monday reached a consensus on seat-sharing in 77 seats for upcoming Assembly polls where either of the two sides had won in 2016. It has been decided that the 77 seats will be distributed in the winning ratio of 2016. 

However, the rest of the 217 seats will be discussed in the next meeting scheduled to be held on January 28.

According to LF sources, it will field candidates in the 33 seats it had won in the last assembly elections. The Congress will be contesting in the 44 seats it had won.

However, the fate of other seats, which are believed to be their respective strongholds by both Congress and the left, remains uncertain.

"One seat which might have created trouble has been settled by the 77 formula. However, what might happen to the rest of the seats is a question," a Left front leader said.

Sources in Congress said that they would stick to their demand of 130 seats. In the first meeting between the two political forces, Congress had demanded that it should be allowed to contest in 130 out of 294 seats.

At the next meeting by the end of this month, the two sides will make efforts to find an amicable solution on who will contest in which of the remaining 217 seats.

CPI(M) politburo member Mohammad Salim said the alliance might accommodate the Indian Secular Force -- the political platform which was launched by peeved Islamic cleric of Furfura Sharif Abbas Siddiqui. Siddiqui’s political move was supported by AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi who had announced that his party would contest in the upcoming elections under the leadership of the cleric.

The CPI(M), however, said there is room for Siddiqui in the alliance if he snaps ties with Owaisi.