West Bengal: CPI(M) to field candidate for Kaliganj byelection 2025, Congress mum on support

The Election Commission has announced June 19 as the polling date for byelection in the Kaliganj Assembly constituency. Representative Image/PTI)

The CPI(M) has decided to field its own candidate in the Kaliganj by-election in West Bengal scheduled to be held on June 19. On Wednesday, CPI(M) West Bengal general secretary Mohammed Salim announced the party's decision to contest the bypolls with support of the Congress party, citing its strong performance in the Lok Sabha elections last year.

The Election Commission on Sunday announced June 19 as the date for the by-election to the Kaliganj Assembly seat in Nadia district of West Bengal.

"We have fought in the Panchayat and the Lok Sabha election there and did well. In the 2016 Assembly election, the Congress won the seat, but their MLA joined TMC. So, we think if we can file a candidate there and fight unitedly, we can defeat the BJP as well as the TMC there," Salim said.

The CPI(M) functionary further said that a meeting of the state committee and the Left Front was held on Wednesday where the issue was discussed and a decision to approach the Congress was finalised.

"In the Lok Sabha election in 2024, our candidate for Krishnanagar Lok Sabha seat, SM Sadi secured the highest votes in Kaliganj, which is more than 18% of total votes. So, we are assuming we will do well in Kaliganj bypoll and definitely we will file a candidate there," The Indian Express quoted a senior CPI(M) leader as saying.

The Congress, however, has maintained a stoic silence on the issue of supporting the CPI(M) candidate in the byelection, considering that the seat has traditionally been a party stronghold.

The Congress party won the seat in 2016 as part of the Left Front alliance. However, the Congress candidate later defected to the Trinamool Congress. TMC's Nasiruddin Ahmed won from Kaliganj in 2011 but lost in 2016. He again regained the seat in 2021. The seat fell vacant following his demise.

Notably, Left Front ally, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), has also extended support to the CPI(M) provided that the party chooses to field its candidate from the seat.

On the other hand, the Trinamool Congress has fielded Alifa Ahmed as its candidate for the June 19 polls. Alifa, the daughter of late Nasiruddin Ahmed, is a B.Tech graduate and is employed at a prominent IT company.

Over the past 14 years, the Congress, Left and the Trinamool Congress have shared a rollercoaster relationship in West Bengal.

In the Assembly elections held in 2011, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC formed a government with Congress as an alliance partner. However, the alliance broke down within a year, and Congress has since maintained distance from TMC at both state and national levels.

In the 2016 Assembly elections, the Congress formed its first-ever official alliance with the CPIM-led Left Front. The party won 44 seats, the Left Front secured 30 seats, BJP bagged 3 seats while the TMC swept the elections winning 211 of the 294 seats in the Assembly.

The Congress again broke ranks with the Left Front ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 that saw the party win 2 seats out of 42. The BJP, on the other hand, bagged 18 seats, the TMC secured 22 and the Left Front drew a blank.

In the 2021 Assembly election, the Congress joined hands once again with the Left Front, and Indian Secular Front (ISF). The Left Front and Congress failed to win any seats, while ISF managed just one seat. TMC secured 213 seats, and BJP won 77 seats.

The Lok Sabha elections in 2024 saw a peculiar alliance between the Congress, TMC and the Left parties where despite being part of the INDIA bloc nationally, there was no agreement between them in West Bengal.

Congress, however, formed an alliance with the CPIM-led Left Front in the state. The results saw Congress win one seat, while other Left parties failed to secure any. After the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, the Congress and Left Front broke ranks again and contested the bypolls separately.