CPM-Congress alliance in Bengal likely in 80:64 seat formula for Kolkata civic polls

The alliance the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Congress in West Bengal is likely to field candidates from 80 and 64 seats respectively in the upcoming municipal elections in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation election.
Municipal elections in Kolkata will be held across all 144 wards in April this year.
Both the parties have been in alliance for earlier polls, but a seat sharing successful formula is critical for the success of the tie-up. While Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to the forefront as the main opposition by winning in 18 out of 42 seats in the last Lok Sabha polls of 2019, Congress secured marginal votes while CPI (M) didn’t win in any of the seats.
Leaders of both parties have said earlier that going into the alliance was necessary to counter BJP and the ruling party Trinamool Congress which they have accused of joining hands “unofficially”. The leaders are however hopeful that their ongoing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) will help them to regain their position in the minds of people as they claim to have received favourable responses from people in several parts of the state where such protests were organised jointly.
The leaders have also said that their alliance is going strong as there has been spontaneous participation by the workers of both the parties in such programs. It is crucial for the parties to put up a good fight in the municipal elections as this will not only help to regain their confidence but will also help to lift their acceptability at the grassroots level ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections.
Both the CPIM and the Congress have so far decided to contest the municipal elections from those seats in which they won in the last time. The top leadership of both the parties have also decided to sort out minor differences regarding selection of candidatures.

Comments are closed.