Kolkata, Oct 24 — The West Bengal Congress has ruled out any seat-sharing arrangement with either the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress faction or the CPI(M)-led Left Front in the state's upcoming elections for seven urban civic bodies, scheduled for next month.
Sources in the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) said that although the Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress has sent informal signals about the possibility of a seat-sharing arrangement, the top state leadership has rejected the idea.
The state party leadership claimed that the upcoming urban civic body polls are not the right platform for such an experiment.
According to the state Congress president, Subhankar Sarkar, any seat-sharing arrangement for the forthcoming urban civic body polls will be meaningless, since past experiences show how such local body polls are transformed into a farcical exercise due to the combined influence of the ruling party and the state administration.
“This time also there will be no difference, and in all probability BJP candidates will win from almost all the wards in these seven municipal bodies, taking advantage of its leverage. In that case, BJP will have the opportunity to claim victory as a spontaneous public support against united opposition. So, the urban civic body polls are not the ideal opportunity to try this seat-sharing arrangement,” Sarkar said.
Meanwhile, the CPI(M) leadership has also made it clear that despite being part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc at the national level, in local body polls, the Left Front will contest independently without any seat-sharing arrangement with any other political force in the state.
“The question of having any seat-sharing arrangement with any faction in Trinamool Congress is out of the question. At the same time, any understanding with Congress at this point is also not desirable, since we believe that the forthcoming urban civic body polls will be the best opportunity for us to understand where we stand in terms of our organizational strength,” said a CPI(M)’s central committee member who did not wish to be named.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Trinamool Congress, the faction in Trinamool Congress led by Ritabrata Banerjee, made it clear it will contest the upcoming urban civic body polls without any understanding with anyone.
On the other hand, the bloc of 20 Trinamool Congress-turned-National Citizens’ Party of India (NCPI) Lok Sabha members, who claim to be part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is keen for a seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP for the civic polls.
The tentative schedule for polls for the seven urban civic bodies, including Kolkata and Howrah Municipal Corporations, is in the last week of November, and the results will be declared in the first week of December.