The Congress -Left Front alliance faces rough weather as the Marxists left only 13 seats to fight in the ensuing 60-member assembly elections.
Soon after Left Front announced its candidate list -in which it dropped several top leaders including former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar- the Congress leaders expressed their serious disappointment at the way Left Front took away most seats, some of which are believed to be Congress strong hold.
On Wednesday night CPM secretary Jitendra Choudhury and Left Front Convenor Narayan Kar in a press conference announced that that the Leftists would fight it out in 47 seats. CPM will fight in 43 seats while in one each CPI, RSP, FB will field their candidates. Left Front left, for the first time, one seat for an Independent. The rest 13 seats were kept aside for the Congress.
The Independent candidate is lawyer Purushuttom Roy Barman who is hardcore Marxists but not associated with CPM.
One of the striking features of the CPM list—with 24 new faces- is that the Marxists dropped former four-time Chief Minister and incumbent Opposition leader Manik Sarkar, former minister Badal Chowdhury- who is presently not in good health, three former ministers – Tapan Chakraborty, Sahid Chowdhury, Banulal Saha. Three other sitting MLAs were also not nominated this time—some of them were sacrificed for the Congress..
Jitendra Choudhury said initially 12 seats were allotted for Congress, but as they pressed for Dharmanagar Seat for them, it was also given to them. He said, he talked to Tipra Motha supremo on Tuesday night and the CPM is stillm open for an alliance with the party.
Meantime, an agency report said, upset at the big brotherly attitude of the CPM , Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman who was the initiator for the alliuance expressed his displeasure at the humiliation. He said Congress had demanded 27 seats , which they later brought down to 23 seats.
“They (Left parties) have taken the decision as per their whims and wishes, we would go as per the whims and wishes of the people,” said Roy Barman to the agency.
TPCC president Birajit Sinha, who is now in Delhi, said, that party’s central leaders would hold meetings with CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and other Left leaders about the seat sharing arrangements.
In the meantime, the way Left Front shared seats had serious reactions among the Congress workers who felt humiliated and frustrating.
