Two Left Front constituents — the RSP and All India Forward Bloc — in Malda have decided to walk out of the Congress-Left Front-ISF alliance and field candidates in nine Assembly seats of the district left for the Congress.
The CPM will contest three of 12 Assembly seats in the district — Englishbazar, Habibpur and Gazole — and the Congress nine, a decision that angered the two Left Front allies which asked for but did not get seats.
Srimanta Mitra, Malda Forward Bloc secretary, said: “In 2016, we fought against the Congress in Harischandrapur, a seat we had till 2011. We were ready to give up our claim to Harischandrapur, but wanted another seat from Congress. We were overlooked. Party workers want to teach the Congress a lesson by contesting in four seats.”
The RSP said they would field candidates in five seats with Congress nominees in the fray. The RSP sought one seat but was denied, said its district secretary Sarbananda Pande.
In the 2016 Assembly polls, the party had won a seat in the district. “It is disappointing that neither the state Left Front not the Congress agreed to it (the demand for one Assembly seat). There might be an alliance in the state level but in Malda we will field our candidates against Congress in five seats,” said Sarbananda Pande, the district RSP secretary of Malda.
Such a stance by allies has left the district CPM and Congress leaders perplexed.
Ambar Mitra, the district CPM secretary, said they would hold talks with the disgruntled allies while Congress leaders said the matter has to be settled within the Left Front.
“We no comments,” said Kalisadhan Roy, a district Congress leader.
The decision, observers said, can help Mamata Banerjee’s party in the district. In Malda, they said, the saffron camp is trying to polarise votes in around five Assembly seats.
“In the remaining seven seats of the district where there is high concentration of minorities, the BJP lacks major support base. In these seats, a split of votes among the Left and Congress can help Trinamul,” said an observer.
