Forward Bloc, RSP say ‘no’ to any future alliance with Congress in West Bengal

Forward Bloc, RSP say ‘no’ to any future alliance with Congress in West Bengal SHRABANA CHATTERJEE KOLKATA After a humiliating performance in the Lok Sabha election in West Bengal, the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), both part of the Left Front, said on Wednesday that they were not in favour of any future alliance between the Left Front and the Congress. The Left Front failed to win a single seat in the State, while the Congress bagged Malda South. The Trinamool Congress won 29 of the 42 seats. The Left Front contested from 33 constituencies, while the remaining nine had Congress candidates. AIFB State secretary Naren Chatterjee said the alliance had not worked in 2019 too. The AIFB lost in all three constituencies of Barasat, Purulia, and Coochbehar that it contested. They had a vote share of a mere 0.24% across West Bengal. Purulia and Coochbehar had Congress candidates, though the parties were in alliance. “The seat-sharing between the Left Front and the Congress was decided by the CPI(M); we were not consulted. So we had our own candidates in these seats,” Mr. Chatterjee said, “Why should we, the Left, bear the burden of the things that the Congress had done in Bengal? If we form an alliance, we will never be able to avoid sharing the responsibility,” he said. His party had no intention of sharing seats with the Congress, their ideological opponent. Manoj Bhattacharya, RSP general secretary, said, “I do not consider this an alliance between the Congress and the Left Front, this is more of an adjustment. I do not oppose the coming together of the parties.” But the RSP too is not keen on any future alliance. The Left Front failed to win a single seat in the State, while the Congress bagged one in Malda South https://epaper.thehindu.com/ccidist-ws/th/th_delhi/issues/85674/OPS/G39CT0RBE.1+G3GCT2LOU.1.html