Why Owaisi’s a sticking point in Congress-Left plans to ally with this Bengal Muslim cleric

Congress & Left have been talks with Abbas Siddiqui, an influential cleric of Bengal’s most prominent Islamic shrine Furfura Sharif, to tie-up for polls but issues remain unresolved.

Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui at the launch of the Indian Secular Front | Photo: PTI

Kolkata: Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui and his Indian Secular Front (ISF) have become a sticking point in the Left-Congress alliance in West Bengal.

Siddiqui wants 70 of the 294 seats in the state and the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM to be part of the alliance, but the Congress is opposed to the AIMIM joining and feels that the ISF is being unrealistic with its constituency numbers. The Left parties, however, are receptive and are willing to make the concessions.

A crucial Left-Congress meeting late Tuesday evening failed to resolve the issue. As a result, teething issues remain in the alliance barely two months ahead of the assembly elections.

The 34-year-old Siddiqui, an influential cleric of the state’s most prominent Islamic shrine, Furfura Sharif, is a political novice and only launched his ISF party last month.
He is, however, adamant on his demands.

“We want an alliance with secular parties like the Left Front and Congress, but they must not forget about our sizeable support or influence across the state,” the cleric told ThePrint. “We should not be dubbed as a fringe player when the alliance talk is on.”

The Congress is in no mood to accommodate the AIMIM though it has indicated that it is willing to accept the ISF. “We have all in-principle agreed to take the ISF in. But nothing about the number of seats has been fixed yet,” state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said after Tuesday’s meeting. “There should be a cumulative effort to get the alliance done.”

On Wednesday, Chowdhury reiterated to ThePrint that the party will not ally with the AIMIM. “We have made it clear that we will not have the AIMIM on board with us. Moreover, the new entrants need to think before they put unrealistic demands about seats,” Chowdhury told ThePrint.

The CPI(M) is more amenable as it needs access to Muslim votes in rural Bengal.

“We are trying to stitch an alliance of all stakeholders that want Trinamool and BJP to be defeated. There are certain holes, but we are trying to fill them,” CPI(M) politburo member Mohammad Salim, who is the alliance pointsman dealing with the ISF, told ThePrint.

“We are looking for a quality coalition. We are assessing the winnability and credibility of every constituent when they want a particular seat. So, the process is still on,” Salim added. “But we know that the ISF has sizeable support in some areas. Congress also has some issues. But we are trying to iron out the differences.”

Demand after ground survey, says Siddiqui

Speaking to ThePrint, Siddiqui said his demand for 70 seats is the result of a ground survey that his party has conducted.

“We have done a ground survey, after which, we want to contest from certain seats in Malda, Murshidabad, Hooghly, East Midnapore, Nadia, South and North 24 Paragana,” he said.

Malda and Murshidabad are Congress bastions and the party is in no mood to give up seats in both districts.

Siddiqui further said that he is yet to get a green signal from the alliance. “We are yet to get any positive response from them as of now. If they can give us a reasonable number of seats, we may join hands with them to avoid division of votes,” he added.

“We know that Congress has put a condition. But, in a battle like this, we should set aside our differences and fight together. If they talk about conditions, I may have many other conditions,” the cleric said.

“AIMIM supported us and gave me a free hand to do whatever I feel is right. About seat sharing between ISF and AIMIM, talks are still on.”

Siddiqui also said he had been approached by the Trinamool Congress. “Mamata Banerjee sent her representatives to me asking for an electoral understanding,” he said. “I had proposed 44 seats for us, it was rejected and the talks were over.”

Development may aid Mamata, say analysts

Political analysts are divided over whether the ISF joining the Left-Congress combine may actually benefit Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress (TMC).

“An alliance between Left, Congress and ISF may minimise fragmentation of Muslim votes for Mamata Banerjee,” said political analyst and researcher Prof Samir Das.

“With ISF on board, a section of Hindu voters may not vote for Left and Congress. On the other hand, a section of Muslim votes, that had started shifting to ISF from Trinamool Congress, may again return to Mamata Banerjee. This political experiment of the Left, Congress and ISF will also prevent division of minority votes.”

Prof. Abdul Matin, another analyst, however said, “The BJP-Trinamool binary politics will break if ISF, CPM and Congress join hands. In some areas, it may hurt Mamata as the votes for the alliance will swell in Malda, Murshidabad and both the south and north 24 Paraganas. But in some areas, it may help her prevent divisions. Overall, it seems, Mamata will not gain much if the alliance happens.”