In an attempt to salvage the Opposition alliance and prevent the opposition vote division the CPM and Congress ultimately resolved to patch up. On Thursday both the parties withdrew their candidates from the seats where they would have faced each other. The decision of the CPM had, earlier on Wednesday night, been announced by the party in a statement.
CPI-M state secretary Jitendra Chowdhury said, to prevent the vote division that would have given the ruling BJP a clear advantage all the 13 candidates from the Left parties and three candidates of Congress withdrew their nomination papers.
The much touted Opposition alliance between the two traditional rivals to rout the BJP- which they called seat sharing- ran into rough weather when CPM on January 25 announced the names of 47 candidates leaving 13 seats to the Congress.
The Congress was not in a mood to accept only 13 seats and fielded its candidates in 16 seats. In retaliation the CPM led Left Front then put up its candidates in the 13 seats that they kept aside for the Congress. This moves virtually brought the opposition alliance bid into the brink of collapse as then it became clear that the fight would be multi-cornered with BJP, CPM and Congress along with TMC and others. Such a multi cornered elections would have given the BJP clean sweep through the vote division.
What, however, interesting in this alliance between the Congress and CPM that since it was only ‘seat sharing’ there would be no common declaration or ‘common minimum programme’ by the two parties.
It was also yet to be decided as to whether both the parties –at political logger heads since 1952- would hold joint poll rallies.
“Our common agenda is to protect the Constitution and to restore the law and order situation,” said Choudhury to an agency.
TPCC president Birajit Sinha, who is contesting the elections from Kailasahar constituency, said that the Congress and the Left parties are jointly fighting the elections to end the “jungle raj” of the BJP.
He also appealed the Congress and CPM supporters to bury their traditional hatchet and join hands to fight the BJP.
