The two generals of the Congress and the CPM came together to share the dais on Saturday at Murshidabad’s Domkal, projecting a united front against the BJP and the Trinamul ahead of the third phase of polling in the Lok Sabha elections.
“When the CPM and the Congress workers came together during the panchayat polls, the Trinamul got scared and took the help of the police to win the panchayat polls. We are all fighting together. Our goal is the same,” said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a six-time MP, state Congress president and leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha. “All Congress workers should remember they have to ensure the victory of Salim bhai from Murshidabad.”
A little later Salim reciprocated: “Both Narendra Modi and Didi (Mamata Banerjee) have looted Bengal enough for the last ten years. Our two flags have come together to stop this loot. We won’t allow them to deprive Bengal any longer. Both the Congress and Left workers are fighting together.”
In the third phase of polling to be held on May 7 the four constituencies of Maldah North and South, Jangipur and Murshidabad will go to the polls. These four constituencies are in a sense the last leg on which the Congress in Bengal stands today.
In the 2019 general elections, the two seats that went to the Congress were Maldah South and Berhampore, that Chowdhury has been representing since 1999. The erosion in the Congress ranks in the two districts is much similar to the actual displacement caused by the river Ganges as it enters Bengal through Maldah and reaches Murshidabad, before splitting into two, the Bhagirathi that flows south and on crossing the Bangladesh border turns into Padma.
Five years ago, the CPM had returned with zero seats, a feat the party went on to repeat in the 2021 Assembly polls.
The only silver lining for the two erstwhile ruling parties of Bengal is that their combined strength had helped the Congress nominee poll over 47 per cent votes in the 2023 bypolls held for Sagardighi, one of the Assembly segments in Jangipur Lok Sabha, once represented by the late Pranab Mukherjee. Though the victory was short-lived as the winning candidate switched to the Trinamul, the victory margin was the first sign of success for the Left-Congress combine since they first joined hands in the 2016 Assembly elections and paved the way for both state units to insist on a formal seat adjustment.
The venue of Saturday’s meeting was a ground at Domkal, one of the most violence prone areas in the state, which has been historically infamous for deaths related to elections. In 2016, when in the rest of the state the Congress and the CPM had reached an electoral understanding, the Domkal seat was officially kept out of the list of negotiation. The Congress had to field a candidate in the seat against the alliance nominee to prevent the Congress voters from switching to the Trinamul. One CPM polling agent was killed on the day of elections in the constituency.
On Saturday, the leaders of the two parties made an attempt to keep the past behind and instead look at the future, both immediate and distant.
“Secularism and democracy are blocking Narendra Modi. That is why he is trying to finish the Congress and the Left. We had our differences with the Left, we had our share of problems. But for the sake of the country we had to come together. If the country does not survive, what will we do with the party?” asked Chowdhury.
In Chowdhury’s own constituency Berhampore, the Congress trailed in all the seven Assembly segments in the last Assembly elections, including the town of Berhampore, that gave Chowdhury his political identity.
“People are joining our meetings, reaching out to us with lots of hope and trust. This (alliance) is not just for this election. In 2026, we will form the new government in Bengal and deliver justice to the people of Bengal,” said Salim.
