Left-Congress, ISF to sound West Bengal Assembly election bugle on Sunday

The alliance of the Left Front, Congress and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) will sound the poll bugle from a mega rally at the iconic Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Sunday. While the CPI(M)-led Left Front have already finalized the seat sharing with the ISF, the Congress is yet to conclude its seat sharing negotiation with the ISF.

Left Front sources said that it has agreed to leave 30 seats to the ISF for the Assembly elections, while the State Congress leadership were hopeful that they would soon strike a deal with the newly floated outfit.

“Our mega rally at the Brigade Parade Ground will mark the beginning of our campaign for the Assembly elections. Our aim is to provide an alternative to the anti-people politics of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the communal and divisive politics of the BJP,” senior Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya said.

He also said that the BJP and the TMC, along with a section of the media are trying to create an impression that the Assembly elections would be a bipolar contest between the two parties, adding that the reality is that it would be three-way fight.

Read: TMC, BJP working to set their caste equations ahead of West Bengal Assembly polls

Senior CPI(M) leader Mohammed Salim said, “At the Brigade rally, we will speak of alternative policies. The TMC and the BJP are communal forces and we are fighting against both.”

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha and Bengal Congress president Adhir Chiwdhury and ISF founder Abbas Siddique will be the key speakers at the rally. Chattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will address the gathering along with senior leaders of other Left Front constituents.

Congress sources said that the Left Front and the State Congress leadership wanted Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi to address the gathering but both decided otherwise due to the political compulsions in Kerala where the Congress-led UDF is in a direct fight against the LDF.

Suffering a steady decline since the 2011 Assembly elections, the Left Front and Congress are trying regain some lost ground in the West Bengal and are considerably banking on the ISF to make a dent into TMC's minority vote base.