Kolkata: With the CPI(M) and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) now accusing each other of failure in reaching an understanding in relation to seat sharing, Trinamool Congress (TMC), backing ISF, has said that the Left party is trying to use others to hide their failure.
A blame game has ensued between the CPI(M) and ISF which gained momentum after Thursday when the ISF declared its candidates in seats where CPI(M) has already fielded theirs.
So much so that the CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim, who was being considered as the main negotiator in bringing ISF to the table for seat-sharing talks, will now be facing an ISF candidate from Murshidabad seat where he is contesting as the CPIM candidate.
Naushad Siddiqui of ISF is learnt to have told the media that the CPIM is acting selfish and have colluded with RSS functionaries. On the contrary, he has been accused of colluding with the TMC. Coincidentally, Naushad had earlier declared he will contest against Trinamool’s Abhishek Banerjee from Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat but on Thursday backed out and ISF announced the name of a candidate from that seat.
Amid such a situation, Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh told the media that the cat is out of the bag and ISF has understood that both CPI(M) and Congress are pillars of support for the BJP.
Ghosh said that TMC has no animosity against ISF but only has ideological differences.
“CPI(M) uses other parties for selfish gains. It was doing the same with ISF to cover its failures. Despite tall speeches, it has understood since 2016 that it can’t win elections alone and hence are looking for partners to come to power,” he said.
Alluding to former High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who is now a BJP candidate from Tamluk, and was known for his associations with the CPI(M) in the past, Kunal said that the CPI(M) seems to have become a leaky cauldron which is barely able to hold onto anything.
“Neither could CPI(M) hold on to the person who was associated with them nor could they hold on to a party (ISF),” he remarked.