Alimuddin Street has neither bolted the doors nor kept them ajar.

CPM leaders' busy confabulating with colleagues at their party headquarters realise that the continued dilly-dallying of the Congress high command over the Mamata Banerjee question is costing time for both parties to come to an understanding on sharing of seats.

The Left leaders also realise that negotiations are going to be difficult because neither parties have any point of reference based on which they can claim their share of the pie. And CPM state secretary Mohammad Salim admits that 2024 is a completely new situation and past performance cannot be the basis of any negotiations.

“The yardstick has to be decided afresh based on objective reality and subjective preparation,” said Salim, adding that the terms and conditions have to be realistic. “Our aim is to increase our presence in the Lok Sabha, those who won’t succumb to the BJP’s pressure. All those who are against the BJP and the Trinamul can join us.”

In the ten years between 2014 and today, the Left and the Congress have both fought two Assembly polls together and went their own ways in elections to the Lok Sabha, with some unofficial concessions, in 2014 and 2019. In all the four polls, there has been no electoral gain for either parties.

Rahul Gandhi with Bengal CPI(M) leaders File

Unlike 2016 and 2021, neither the Left nor the Congress has any template to follow if both decide to come together for the Lok Sabha polls. The seat-sharing formula in the previous elections was based on the existing seats that the CPM and the Congress had in the outgoing Assemblies. In the incumbent Lok Sabha, the Congress has two and CPM zero representation from Bengal.

No formal talks between the two INDIA partners have started as yet as the Mamata issue has not been settled. CPM has already made it clear it will not have any electoral understanding with the Trinamul. Bilateral talks between the Left Front constituents too are pending, though some discussions have been held.

“We have not closed the doors nor are we going to take the lead. We have walked the extra mile and joined Rahul Gandhi’s yatra. Now it is for the Congress to decide whether they want an alliance with us or Mamata,” said a CPM leader. “As long as they continue with talks with the Trinamul, we will stay away.”

The Indian Secular Front, which was a part of the alliance between the Left and the Congress for the 2021 Assembly polls, will be included in 2024. At least the CPM is in favour of the outfit being given a seat at the negotiation table. ISF leader and Bhangar MLA Nowshad Siddiqui has already aired in public he is keen to contest from Diamond Harbour, a seat represented by Trinamul all-India general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Just two days back, some of the Bengal CPM leaders including Salim were with Rahul Gandhi as his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra passed through Murshidabad.

CPM leaders cannot be blamed if they wonder how long the Congres high command will continue to woo Mamata Banerjee. A section of the Congress in Bengal might be wondering the same.

“It is quite clear she wants to sabotage the alliance and protect her interests,” said Salim referring to Mamata’s relentless attack on the CPM and the Congress, both on paper her partners in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc. “Her statements only expose her further to the entire country.”

Over the last fortnight or so, Mamata has taken a belligerent stand and upped the ante against the Congress and the CPM, with repeated claims to go it alone in Bengal for the Lok Sabha polls. Rahul Gandhi’s arrival in Bengal with the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra has only worsened the ties.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee during her 'dharna' against the central government, at Red Road in Kolkata PTI

During her address to party supporters at Red Road on Friday, where she is on a 48-hour dharna to demand the Narendra Modi government release funds due to the state, Mamata raised the pitch higher as she accused the Congress and the Left of wooing the Muslim vote.

“CPM and Congress never fight against the BJP. Congress and CPM are trying to appease the Muslims and the BJP is trying to appease the Hindus,” Mamata alleged, adding that the Congress tally in the Lok Sabha was unlikely to cross 40 seats.

Mamata came to power in Bengal in 2011 riding high on the Muslim vote which hasn’t deserted her in the elections that followed.

The writing on the wall in Murshidabad’s Sagardighi, less than a year ago, may have faded but are definitely etched in the Trinamul chief’s mind. That bypoll indicated that the Muslim vote could swing the other way, leaving her stranded. Congress nominee Bayron Biswas, with the support of the Left, won the bypolls securing 47.35 per cent of the votes, while the Trinamul which had won the seat for three consecutive terms polled 34.94 per cent. The BJP finished a poor third with 13.94 per cent. That Biswas has jumped ship since is a different, albeit familiar, story in Bengal.

“The BJP accuses the Congress of appeasing Muslims. So does Didi. The BJP takes a dig at us on the number of seats we can win. She is doing the same. I want to ask her, why is she speaking in the same language as the BJP,” said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha and the state party president.

Mamata would prefer a bipolar fight with the BJP, rather than a three-cornered one including the Congress and Left together. Though a by-election cannot be a benchmark the Congress-Left eating into the Muslim vote is a possibility and will cost the Trinamul. Today, no leader in the CPM and the Congress can say with any certainty that they can win any of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the Bengal. But, Mamata probably realises they could upset her applecart and therefore her continued efforts to wean the Congress away from the CPM.

On Saturday, Jairam Ramesh, the Congress's all-India general secretary in charge of communications, gave a guarded reply on the Mamata issue while talking to the media.

“She is somewhat upset. This alliance is for the Lok Sabha polls and not the Assembly. In the Assembly polls, the alliance members will contest against each other. The enemy here is the BJP and we all took oath to fight together and defeat this government on 23rd June 2023,” Ramesh said while talking to reporters in Jharkhand’s Deoghar. “She has said something about the number of seats. I don’t want to comment on that. I don't know who is advising her. But she will be proved wrong. Talks are on. She has also said she is a part of the alliance and she wants to defeat the BJP.”