Apropos the report, "Tie-up yet to be sealed, Cong, CPI(M) holding joint protest" (March 3), with Assembly elections due in West Bengal this year, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has asked its state unit to seek the cooperation of all "democratic forces" to defeat the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and isolate the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress high command has also reciprocated this intent.
Although leaders of the two parties are trying to project their possible alliance as the people's desire to see a democratic secular front taking on the TMC, the actual story is different. If for the CPI(M), the alliance is a desperate attempt to regain power in West Bengal, for the Congress it is the last resort to remain relevant in state politics.
After the Left Front was decimated in the 2011 Assembly polls in the state, it also suffered setbacks in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress has also lost vote share in Murshidabad and two other north Bengal districts. A bulk of the voters from minority communities have shifted their loyalty to the TMC. If a pre-poll alliance between the Congress and the Left Front succeeds, it may regain the votes of the minorities. The alliance may then pose a formidable threat to the TMC. This would also halt the stream of Left and Congress members quitting their respective parties.
But there are several constraints. The alliance may be considered lacking in political ideology by a section of still loyal voters of both the CPI(M) and the Congress. There is also doubt whether the one-time arch-rivals would be able to embrace each other like former foes Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad did in Bihar. A half-hearted approach may fail to win the confidence of voters.
The Congress' prospects in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls has put the party in a dilemma about how prudent it is to forge an alliance with the Left Front. For the Congress, to defy the TMC, which at one time stood by it on different issues against the BJP, could amount to ingratitude. The Congress and the Left Front will both face embarrassing questions regarding their stances in Kerala and Tripura. Besides, smaller parties in the Left Front may feel neglected in the new alliance.
Buddhadev Nandi, Bishnupur
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