Cong-Left Front unity in true spirit felt only in Murshidabad District

Kolkata: Despite an official seat-sharing arrangement in West Bengal, barring a couple of seats where the All India Forward Bloc has fielded candidates against the Congress despite the Left Front’s objections, the Left Front-Congress unity in the true spirit is reflected in three out of 42 constituencies, all of which are in Murshidabad District.

These three constituencies, namely Baharampur, Murshidabad and Jangipur are under focus because of the presence of heavyweight candidates from the Congress and the CPI(M).

While state Congress President and five-time Lok Sabha candidate from Baharampur, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is contesting this time as well, at Murshidabad the important candidate is the CPI(M)’s politburo member and the party’s state Secretary Mohd Salim.

Mortoza Hossain is the Left Front-supported candidate from the third constituency in Murshidabad District, Jangipur.

Both Chowdhury and Salim have been trying to ensure a smooth transfer of their dedicated votes to the other party.

Political observers say that this smooth transfer of votes between the two camps is especially crucial for the Left Front, since in the past elections it was evident that while dedicated Left Front voters opted for Congress candidates wherever applicable, it was not reciprocated from the other side.

Chowdhury seems to have realised that and has taken out time from his busy schedule at Baharampur to campaign for Salim at Murshidabad.

He accompanied Salim when the latter went to file his nomination recently.

Outside the nomination venue Chowdhury received a cordial welcome from the CPI(M) workers who put a stole with the party symbol of ‘Hammer-sickle-star’ around his neck, which he accepted with a smile.

“Congress workers have to ensure the victory of Salim from Murshidabad even at the risk of their own lives,” Chowdhury gave a call to the party workers from there.

Apart from that, a couple of days ago Salim and Chowdhury conducted a joint rally at Domkal in Murshidabad District where both the leaders emphasised that in this election there is no difference between Chowdhury, Salim and Mortoza Hossain.

Both Salim and Chowdhury stressed that this election was not the time for harping on the historical differences between the Congress and the Left Front.

Both emphasised that the battle was the same for both the Congress and the Left Front against the dual rivals BJP and Trinamool Congress.

The fact that Left Front-Congress unity in West Bengal would be strong in Murshidabad District compared to other pockets was evident from the time seat-sharing talks started between the two parties.

While the CPI(M) readily agreed to forego its stake at Jangipur in support of the Congress candidate, the same flexibility was shown by another Left Front ally Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) in case of Baharampur.

The Congress leadership, led by Chowdhury reciprocated with enthusiastic participation in campaigns for Salim.

In fact, the show of Congress-Left Front unity in West Bengal has made the ruling Trinamool Congress leadership a bit jittery.

Recently, the state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim taunted Salim and Chowdhury claiming that “it seems two lame men are trying to support each other.”

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in almost all the election rallies, has accused CPI(M) and Congress as clandestine beneficiaries, especially in Murshidabad and Malda Districts, both of which are minority-dominated.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Trinamool Congress candidates got elected from Murshidabad and Jangipur constituencies, while Chowdhury got elected for the fifth term from Baharampur.