Congress announces Kabil Uddin Sheikh as candidate for Kaliganj bypoll; Left Front to support

Indian Express

5 days ago

After a series of talks, the Left Front and the Congress have agreed to jointly fight the Kaliganj Assembly bypoll in West Bengal which is slated to be held on June 19. On Saturday, the Congress announced Kabil Uddin Sheikh as its candidate for the seat.
Earlier, CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim had said that the party did well in the area in the previous Lok Sabha election and hence it will put up a candidate in Kaliganj, which is a traditional Congress bastion.
Besides the Congress, Left ally RSP has won the seat four times during the Left Front's rule. In 2016, the Congress – which was in an alliance with the Left – won the Assembly seat, but its winning candidate later joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC). TMC's Nasiruddin Ahmed won from Kaliganj in 2011 but lost in 2016. He again regained the seat in 2021. After his demise in February this year, the seat has been vacant.
During the Left Front meeting on Friday, allies of the CPI(M) said that the seat should ideally go to the RSP, but for the sake of the alliance, it should be given to the Congress. The CPI(M) leadership agreed. A senior CPI(M) leader said, 'It was decided in the Left Front meeting that the RSP may fight in the 2026 Assembly election, but now the seat can be given to the Congress.
The TMC had earlier announced that it will field Nasiruddin Ahmed's daughter Alifa Ahmed, 38, in the seat. A BTech graduate, she works at a renowned IT company.
Salim had said earlier, 'We fought the panchayat and Lok Sabha election there (Kaliganj) and did well. In the 2016 Assembly election, the Congress won the seat but their MLA joined the TMC. So, we think if we can file a candidate there and fight unitedly, we can defeat the BJP and TMC there.'
During the 2011 Assembly election, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC was in alliance with the Congress. They also formed a government with the Congress. But within one year, the alliance broke, following which the Congress never tied up with the TMC at the state level or in any other election.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front first had an official alliance with the Congress in the 2016 polls. The Congress won 44 seats, Left Front 30, the BJP three and the TMC won 211 out of the 294 seats in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. However, just after the Assembly election, the alliance broke. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, no alliance was formed between the Left Front and Congress. The Congress won two seats, BJP 18, and the TMC 22 seats out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The Left Front failed to open its account.
In the 2021 Assembly election, the Left Front, Congress and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) were in alliance. The Left Front and the Congress failed to open their accounts, while the ISF won a seat. The TMC won 213 and the BJP won 77 seats.
During the 2024 Lok Sabha election, even though the TMC joined the Congress and Left parties under the INDIA bloc at the national level, they had no alliance with either party in the state. The Congress, however, tied up with the Left Front and won a seat. Left parties other than the CPI(M) again failed to make a mark. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the 2023 panchayat election, the Left Front-Congress alliance did well.
Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal.
Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur.
He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More