West Bengal polls: Left-Congress-ISF alliance to kick off campaign with mega Kolkata rally

The Left-Congress-ISF alliance in West Bengal is set to launch its campaign for the upcoming assembly elections with a mega rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata on Sunday.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front and the Congress have already decided on seat-sharing, and talks between the Left and Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui's Indian Secular Front have also concluded with both agreeing on 30 seats for the newly- floated outfit. The negotiations between Congress and ISF are underway, and both sides are hopeful that the differences over a few seats would be resolved.

"The mega rally at Brigade will mark the beginning of our campaign for the assembly elections. We want to provide an alternative to the anti-people and communal politics of the TMC and the BJP," senior Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya said. "A section of the press, and the TMC and the BJP are trying to project it as a two-cornered contest, but it will be a three-way fight in Bengal," he added.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, ISF's Siddiqui will be the main speakers at the rally. Chattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will also be present, along with state leaders of the Congress and the Left parties.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were the suggested names for addressing the rally, to give a major boost to the alliance's campaign, but both refrained from it, considering the Kerala elections where the Congress-led UDF is contesting directly against the LDF.

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CPI(M) launches 'People's Brigade' rally

The CPI(M) has gone all out to campaign for the rally -- branded as 'People's Brigade', launching innovative ways, from on social media to the streets.  Over the past few weeks, the party's youth activists have been hosting flash mobs at several locations across Kolkata, including shopping malls, busy traffic intersections, and crowded localities. A parody of hit Bengali number 'Tumpa Sona', asking people to attend the Brigade rally has also created a wave on social media.

"At the Brigade rally, we will speak about alternative policies. We are fighting against both the TMC and the BJP, which are communal forces," senior CPI(M) leader Md Salim said.

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The Left-Congress, the vote share of which has been on a decline in West Bengal with the rise of the BJP, received a shot in the arm with Siddiqui joining the alliance ahead of the West Bengal polls, which is being seen mostly as a bipolar contest between the Trinamool Congress and BJP. 

Siddiqui, a pirzada at one of the holiest shrines among Bengali Muslims -- Furfura Sharif in Hooghly, launched the ISF last month. He created a buzz by meeting AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi ahead of the elections but ditched him for the Left-Congress.

West Bengal has 30% Muslim population -- a deciding factor in around 100-110 seats. In case of a close contest, the Left-Congress-ISF alliance will become a deciding factor. In 2016, the Congress and Left Front had fought together and bagged 77 seats in the 294-member assembly. The alliance broke after the CPI(M)-led Left Front walked away.

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During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the proposed Congress-Left alliance fell apart after the parties could not agree on seat sharing. After the dismal performance of the two sides in the Lok Sabha polls, the Left-Congress decided to stitch an alliance to fight the 2021 assembly polls.

The details of the alliance's seat-sharing will be announced once the ISF-Congress talks conclude. Elections for the West Bengal assembly will be held in eight phases, up from seven last time, beginning with polling for 30 seats on March 27.

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(With agency inputs)