The alliance between the Left Front and the Congress moved a step ahead with the two sides meeting for the second time on Monday and arriving at a seat-sharing consensus on 77 constituencies that either of the two political affiliations had won in the 2016 Assembly polls.

“We have decided that the 77 seats will be distributed in the winning ratio of 2016. However, the rest of the 217 seats will be discussed at the next meeting,” said Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya.

According to Bhattacharya, the Left Front will field candidates in the 33 seats it had won in the last Assembly elections and the Congress will contest from the 44 constituencies where it had trounced opponents.

Although the two sides have moved ahead by clinching a formula on the 77 constituencies, the alliance remains in deep waters as the fate of multiple seats that are considered to be their respective strongholds by the Congress and the Left remains uncertain.

“The 77 formula has settled a possible dispute that would have erupted over the Baghmundi seat in Purulia district. However, what will happen to the rest of the seats is a big question,” a Left Front leader said.

Nepal Mahato of the Congress had won the Baghmundi seat in 2016. However, Baghmundi is believed to be a traditional bastion of Left Front constituent Forward Bloc that had fielded a candidate against Mahato in 2016.

“We are okay with Nepal Mahato contesting from Baghmundi again,” a Bloc leader said. “But will Congress be accommodating in other seats that we consider as our stronghold? That is the question.”

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

The next meeting is scheduled for January 28, where the Left parties and the Congress will have to reach an agreement on who will contest from the remaining 217 seats, as both the parties want to finalise the seat sharing by the end of this month.

CPM politburo member Mohd Salim on Monday said the alliance might accommodate Abbasuddin Siddiqui’s Indian Secular Front.

Siddiqui, a Pirzada or spiritual leader from Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district, has recently floated his own political front. Since Siddiqui has been in talks with All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi for an alliance in Bengal, sources in the CPM said there was room for Siddiqui in the front only if he snapped ties with Owaisi.