Kolkata: After a series of marathon meetings and after overcoming initial glitches and hurdles, the Left Front, the Congress party and Indian Secular Front (ISF) floated by Abbas Siddique, on Thursday finally came to an amicable agreement for a seat-sharing arrangement for the forthcoming West Bengal assembly polls.
According to the deal, the Left Front will contest in 165 seats, Congress in 92 seats and ISF in 37 seats.
Read: Shiv Sena not to contest West Bengal polls
Of the 165 seats in the Left Front kitty, front leader CPI(M) will contest from 130 assembly constituencies, CPI from nine, All India Forward Bloc from 15 and Revolutionary Socialist Party from 11.
The Left Front is set to announce its candidate list on March 8.
Initially, Siddiqui' ISF had pitched for 45 seats, but ultimately they settle with 37, which is just eight fewer than what the outfit pitched for.
The majority of the seats that were allotted to ISF were from the erstwhile Left Front kitty, the most important among which are Nandigram in East Midnapore district and Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district.
Read: Congress to contest in 92 constituencies in West Bengal
Even ISF leader, Abbas Siddique has appreciated the flexibility shown by the Left Front especially CPI(M) leaders in accepting their demands in the seat-sharing agreement.
"Yes of course there were initial hitches as Congress was not ready to forego their claims from their kitty. There were some reservations from other Left Front allies also in this regard. But ultimately we have all reached a settlement and it is time for us to campaign and contest in a United spirit," a CPI(M) central committee member said.
Already, the other political contenders like BJP and Trinamool Congress have accused Left Front of succumbing to competitive communalism by giving so much space to Abbas Siddique's ISF. However, CPI(M) leadership has countered the allegations claiming that ISF is contesting as a secular force and not as any particular religious force. In fact, at the joint rally, at Brigrade Parade Ground on February 28, Siddique did not make statements backing a particular religion.
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