Kolkata: Congress on Tuesday night announced its list of six candidates for the Nov 13 bypolls, ending its seat-sharing alliance with CPM since the 2021 assembly polls.
The Left Front on Monday announced its list of candidates for five seats, surprisingly including CPI (ML) as its alliance partner but choosing to divorce Congress. The assembly bypolls in Bengal will also see INDIA bloc constituents slogging it out against each other.
The Left list left out one seat — Haroa — possibly for its partner Indian Secular Front.
When Trinamool came to office in 2011, it had allied with Congress. But Congress quit the Mamata Banerjee cabinet and partnered with Left in the 2016 assembly polls. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, there was no formal understanding but Left did not contest in Congress bastions Behrampore and Malda South, both won by Congress. The two parties also fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together.
“We were in an alliance with CPM and we waited for them to decide on seat-sharing. We contested from Sitai in 2021 and we expected CPM to communicate with us after this bypoll was announced,” Bengal Pradesh Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar said.
According to Pradesh Congress sources, preliminary talks with CPM were on over Naihati constituency, and there was an initial proposal to field a candidate from civil society. “It did not mature and CPM decided to leave the seat to CPI(ML). We fought the Lok Sabha poll in an alliance, but the strategy will change now,” said a Pradesh Congress senior.
Sarkar, who was appointed PCC president a month ago replacing Adhir Chowdhury, had earlier hinted at “strengthening” Congress in Bengal. He had also spoken about keeping the doors open for the party’s allies.
Pradesh Congress netas said it would now be easier for them to convince party workers who have been questioning Left Front’s decision to field a candidate against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Wayanad in the forthcoming bypoll.
While both Congress and CPM have not ruled out the possibility of a future alliance in Bengal, Congress sources indicated that the party brass in Delhi would decide on that after assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.