Kolkata, Dec 11 Nausshad Siddique, the lone All India Secular Front (AISF) legislator in West Bengal, on Monday has given an ultimatum to the Congress that his party would not extend any kind of support in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in case the country’s oldest national party goes into any alliance or understanding with the Trinamool Congress in the general elections.
The warning from Siddique is significant in view of the forthcoming meeting of the grand Opposition INDIA bloc this month, which is supposed to be attended by Trinamool Congress’ national president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
“The AISF will not be anywhere near any alliance or platform with the Trinamool Congress. Our stand is very clear in the matter. So there will be no question of supporting the Congress in case the latter enters into an understanding with the Trinamool Congress in the 2024 polls.
“Our targets are simple. One is to free West Bengal from corrupt forces and the second is the national attempt to sell off India,” Siddique said on Monday.
Already, the AISF has announced that they will be fielding candidates independently from a number of minority-dominated Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal.
Siddique himself has expressed a desire to stand from the Diamond Harbour constituency in South 24 Parganas district from where the sitting Lok Sabha member is the Trinamool Congress’ National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The CPI(M) leadership has reportedly taken Siddique’s stake for Diamond Harbour sympathetically with the strategy that by sacrificing Diamond Harbour they will be able to convince AISF not to stake claim on other constituencies.
Trinamool Congress, on its part, had been constantly labelling AISF and Siddique as the clandestine beneficiary of the BJP, who want to give electoral advantage to the saffron camp by dividing minority votes.
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