Congress has dashed alliance prospects with CPIM to facilitate BJP with dubious intent, alleges Md. Salim

Md. Salim — politburo member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPIM) and member of parliament (MP) has alleged that the Congress has wilfully sabotaged its alliance prospects with the CPIM in West Bengal to facilitate the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through a conspiracy of brokerage.

There is a vested strategy being used by the Congress for helping the BJP, said the CPIM leader in a startling allegation.

Instead of pitting candidates against each other, the CPIM had extended the friendly gesture of seat-sharing with the Congress. To counter the BJP and the Trinamool in the state, the CPIM was  open to giving the Congress more than the four seats it had won last time around. However since no consensus could be reached on which seats to give, the CPIM was waiting to declare its list of candidates even after the dates of election were announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI).  When no solution was in sight even after that, the CPIM declared its list of 25 candidates last Friday. Of the remaining 17 seats, the CPIM wants between six to seven seats. With the Congress failing to finalise its list of candidates, the CPIM staked its claim on all the 17 remaining seats leading to the breakdown of the seat-sharing equation between the two parties, as per sources.

Md. Salim alleges that there has been a conspiracy brewing inside the Congress which is reluctant to put up a joint opposition to the BJP and Trinamool. The main intent behind this kind of brokeraging was to split up the Opposition and help the BJP, alleged the CPIM leader.

In the 2016 Assembly elections, the joint presence of the Congress and CPIM had eaten into the votes for the BJP as compared to its vote-share in the 2014 general elections.

In 2018, CPIM secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra had spoken on the matter that CPIM state conference. The more the Opposition votes get fragmented, the more benefit the BJP will yield, as per the CPIM. For this reason, the party was ready to not field its candidates even in constituencies where its vote-share was more than that of the Congress, just to oust the BJP from Bengal. Yet, the Congress has remained adamant in its approach and thereby facilitated the BJP, says CPIM leaders.

Sources report that the state Congress has already approached the Delhi high-command with the request of fielding 42 candidates in the 42 seats of West Bengal. The ultimate decision lies in the hands of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. This move by the Congress has angered the CPIM top leadership.

The CPIM leaders have agreed to give up on its stake in seats in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Bihar among other states to stall the progress of the BJP. Yet in West Bengal, the picture looks quite different with the Congress aiding the BJP, the CPIM leaders feel. The leadership still remains hopeful of reaching a working equation with the Congress. In the interest of greater good, the process will finally not end up facilitating the BJP and Trinamool, holds the CPIM leaders.