Ahead of West Bengal assembly polls, CPI(M) leader Salim holds talks with Humayun Kabir

Kolkata: CPI(M)'s West Bengal unit secretary Mohammed Salim held a meeting with newly formed Janata Unnayan Party chief Humayun Kabir, triggering speculation about a possible tie-up between the two parties ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

Salim said a proposal for seat-sharing in the coming polls would be discussed within the CPI(M)-led Left Front.

He held an hour-long meeting with Kabir, a former Trinamool Congress MLA who recently courted controversy over the foundation laying of a Babri Masjid-style mosque in Murshidabad district, at a hotel in New Town on Wednesday.

"We will discuss the proposal in the Left Front and thereafter with Leftist parties outside the Front, then with the ISF," Salim said.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front had fought the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal in alliance with the Indian Secular Front (ISF), but could not open its account in the polls.

ISF leader Naushad Siddiqui became the lone opposition MLA other than the BJP.

Noting that his meeting with Kabir was an attempt to understand his intentions, the CPI(M) leader said there are several parties which are yet to take a call on seat-sharing arrangements for the assembly polls.

Denying that any alliance was discussed, Salim said, "I wanted to know from him what he wants to do and what his objective is." Kabir, who was suspended by the TMC, described the interaction as a courtesy meeting but said discussions were held on a possible alliance for the assembly elections.

"I have urged Salim saheb to ensure that the process of alliance formation is finalised by February 15," said Kabir, who has often courted controversy over his off-the-cuff comments.

Claiming that the discussions were productive, the newly formed party's leader said he had requested Salim to speak with the ISF leadership regarding the alliance.

Kabir also said there is a possibility of his party talking to AIMIM regarding an alliance for the upcoming polls.

"Our aim is to defeat a corrupt dispensation and give the people of the state a transparent government," he said.

Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said neither the CPI(M) nor the newly-formed party has any public acceptance.

"The CPI(M) has become politically bankrupt," he said.

Ghosh claimed that the CPI(M), which led the Left Front government for 34 years in Bengal, is now going around with a "begging bowl" for a pre-poll tie-up.