Sonia Gandhi gives nod to Left-Congress alliance in Bengal

Seat adjustment decision taken by state leaders

Kolkata, Aug. 24: Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has given her nod to Congress-Left Front alliance in West Bengal for the upcoming Assembly by-polls in the state following the party’s dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls in the state, top party sources said on Saturday.

Ms Gandhi held a meeting with West Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra in Delhi on Friday night and discussed various organisational issues, including the upcoming Assembly bypolls in the state, the sources said.

“We informed Soniaji about the seat adjustment we are having with the Left Front for the upcoming by elections in the state. She told us if the Left Front agrees then both the parties should go for an alliance in the state,” Mr Mitra said.

The seat adjustment decision was taken by the Congress state leadership when the party had no president after the resignation of Rahul Gandhi from the post. The nod was given by Sonia Gandhi, who was chosen the party’s interim president, earlier this month.

According to Congress sources, Ms Gandhi’s go ahead to the Congress-Left alliance is politically significant given TMC’s recent call for uniting of all Opposition forces in

● Earlier, Congress and the CPI(M) had come together for the 2016 Assembly polls but had failed to impact TMC’s performance. ● Both the parties performed poorly with the Congress winning just two seats

Somen Mitra Bengal in a bid to stop the march of BJP in the state.

“It is quite clear that Soniaji despite sharing a good relation with TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, has chosen the Left for forging an alliance. One of the reasons behind it is that in 2021 Assembly polls, the fight will be against the TMC government. So, just in the name of opposing BJP, we can’t align with it (TMC),” a senior Congress leader.

The West Bengal Congress and the CPI(M) leaderships had recently sealed a seat adjustment for the upcoming bypolls in three Assembly seats in West Bengal to stop the march of the BJP and the Trinamul Congress in the state.

The state leadership of the two parties have decided that Congress will contest the Kaliaganj seat in North Dinajpur district and Kharagpur in West Midnapore district, while the CPI(M)-led Left Front will contest the Karimpur seat in Nadia district.

The Kaliaganj seat fell vacant after the death of sitting Congress MLA Parmathanath Roy, while the election to the Kharagpur seat is being held as its MLA Dilip Ghosh, the state BJP chief, has contested and won the Medinipur Lok Sabha constituency.

Karimpur MLA Mahua Moitra of TMC had won the Krishnnanagar Lok Sabha seat.

The Congress and the CPI(M) had come together for the 2016 Assembly polls but had failed to impact TMC’s performance.

Their attempts to seal a pre-poll alliance for the Lok Sabha elections this time failed after they could not agree to a seatsharing formula.

Both the parties performed poorly with the Congress winning just two seats and losing security deposits in 38 other constituencies. —PTI