Kolkata, May 4 (IANS) The Congress-Left Front bonhomie in West Bengal has raised a couple of questions in the corridors of power and among political pundits in the state.
The first question is, how credible is this election-oriented show of unity that has been evident in West Bengal since the 2016 Assembly elections, when for the first time these two forces entered into a seat sharing arrangement.
Political observers are wondering if this show of camaraderie is only specific to the personal equations between state Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and CPI(M)’s state Secretary Mohd Salim (both are contesting from Murshidabad District) or if this percolates to the grassroots workers in the grand old party and the Left Front.
According to political pundits, since 2016 the show of unity between the two parties is only visible after the seat sharing agreements have been finalised and fizzles out completely after the elections are over.
The same thing was witnessed during the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections which reduced both the Congress and Left Front to zero in the state Assembly.
After the Assembly elections in 2016 and 2021 there were many opportunities for both the parties to continue their bonhomie and take on the ruling Trinamool Congress jointly, but they refrained from building on their partnership.
After the 2016 Assembly elections there were burning issues like the arrests of several Trinamool Congress leaders in connection with Ponzi scams and the controversies over the Narada video scam where several senior ruling party leaders and an IPS officer were seen accepting cash on camera in lieu of favours.
However, instead of organising joint movements on these issues, the CPI(M) and Congress leaderships preferred to go their own ways, diluting the impact.
The BJP took advantage of this void and started emerging as the principal Opposition force in the state by organising structured movements.
The BJP reaped the benefit of that and emerged as the main Opposition force after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 Assembly elections.
Consequently, in both these elections the Left Front and the Congress were reduced to marginal forces in terms of parliamentary and legislative presence.
In the 2021 Assembly elections the Congress and Left Front had partnered again and this time they were joined by the All India Secular Front (AISF) as the third partner. The results were zero for the Congress and the Left Front and just one for AISF. Predictably, the election-oriented bonhomie fizzled out again.
Since 2021, West Bengal has been on the boil on multiple issues of corruption charges against the ruling party and the three forces launched protests separately and not jointly.
The BJP again took advantage of that void and the Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari travelled from one corner of the state to the other, spreading the counter-ruler narrative and this consolidated his party’s position in the Opposition space further.
–IANS
src/rad
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
