In relief to its West Bengal unit, the CPI(M)’s Central Committee has approved the alliance with the Indian Secular Front (ISF).
CPI(M) sources said that during the meeting a section of Central Committee members said that there was a perception among a section of voters that the ISF was a “communal force” and the state unit’s decision to join hands with it had an adverse effect on the party’s performance in the West Bengal Assembly election.
“Despite the reservation, our alliance with the ISF in Bengal received the stamp of approval from the Central Committee which will keep the door open for us to continue with the alliance in future,” a senior CPI(M) leader from Bengal said.
However, the Central Committee instructed the Bengal unit not to form an “ any front” with either the Congress or the ISF stating that only the Left Front will remain.
The development assumes significance as after the CPI(M)’s setback in the 2016 Assembly election in Bengal, the Central Committee prohibited any further alliance with the Congress. As for the alliance with the ISF in the last Assembly elections, there were questions not just in the Left Front but also from within the CPI(M).
CPI(M) sources said that the situation became such that Left Front constituent the Forward Bloc stopped attending the meetings of the Front as they were opposed to the alliance with the ISF. This was the first time the CPI(M) joined forces with a party founded by a religious leader. The ISF was founded by influential minority leader Peerzada Abbas Siddique.
However, the alliance of the Left Front, Congress and ISF failed miserably in the Assembly election, with the Left and Congress drawing a blank and the ISF winning only one seat.
At the national level, the Central Committee decided that the CPI(M)’s opposition against the BJP will be in collaboration with other forces such as the Congress and the Trinamool Congress (TMC). However, at the state level, the Central Committee decided that strategy will be chalked out depending on the political scenario in each State and hence the fight will continue against the TMC in Bengal and the Congress in Kerala.