SP walks out of Left Front over Congress tie-up

Displeased over the Left Front's decision to forge an electoral understanding with the Congress for the West Bengal assembly polls, the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Friday announced it was walking out of the coalition and will contest alone.

Announcing the decision here, party Rajya Sabha member Kiranmoy Nanda said the SP will be contesting in at least 25 assembly constituencies.

"Our policy is to maintain equi-distance from the BJP and the Congress, and with the Left going for an understanding with the Congress, we have decided to walk out and contest the polls alone," said Nanda, who was fisheries minister in the erstwhile Left Front government from 1982 to 2011.

Part of the CPI-M led Front since the early 1980s, the SP had contested the 2011 polls in five seats winning the Bhagabangola constituency in Murshidabad district.

The SP on the day announced its first list of 14 candidates which includes former state minister Humayun Kabir who was expelled from the ruling Trinamool Congress last year.

Nanda said the SP was contemplating walking out of the LF ever since the talks of forging an understanding started to gain ground.

"We had tried to reason with them (Front leaders) against the tie-up but they went ahead. We don't want to forgo our principles, so we have walked out," said Nanda.