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Left Front decides not to put up candidates in two seats Congress won in 2014
Over the past few days, leaders of both the Left and the Congress have accused each other for derailing the talks in the state.
The Left Front in West Bengal has decided not to field candidates for the Baharampore and Malda South Lok Sabha constituencies for the time being. The Congress had won both these seats in 2014.
The Congress and the Left Front are currently involved in laborious discussions for a pre-poll pact. Bengal has 42 constituencies and the Left Front has already announced candidates in 40 seats.
The decision to not nominate anyone for the two seats was taken in a meeting in Kolkata on Friday evening. Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), a constituent of the front, was supposed to field candidates for Baharampore and Malda South constituencies.
Though there was no official statement from the Left Front till 10:30 pm, RSP leader Manoj Bhattacharyya said the Front decided not to field candidates to send a message to the Congress.
Over the past few days, leaders of both the Left and the Congress have accused each other for derailing the talks in the state.
Bitter opponents for decades, the Left Front and the Congress have come together to survive the onslaught of the ruling Trinamool Congress and the rising popularity of the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal.
The Congress has so far nominated only 11 candidates for West Bengal. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to kick off the party’s campaign in Bengal from Malda district on Saturday.
Initially, the Left Front offered to not field candidates in the four seats that the Congress won in Bengal in 2014, and requested that the Congress reciprocate by staying away from the two the Left won in Bengal.
