Indian Secular Front not to oppose AIMIM in West Bengal assembly polls

By Joymala Bagchi
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 24 (ANI): The newly formed Indian Secular Front (ISF) of Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui on Tuesday said his party will not oppose Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly polls.
"Asad Sahab came to Bengal. He came to our darbar sharif. We have told him that we are standing with him. I believe in the 2021 Assembly election votes should not be divided and thus wherever Asad Sahab's party will contest we should not field candidates. It is important to support him. The talks are going on across the table," Siddiqui told ANI.
Asked about Owaisi's phone call asking Siddiqui to attend the former's first public meeting in Bengal on February 25, he said, "I received a call regarding the same but we have a scheduled program that is why I cannot participate. We welcome Asad Sahab in Bengal."
"The talks are on between us and the left, but things are yet to be finalised," added Siddiqui.
During his first visit to Bengal after the announcement of contesting the West Bengal Assembly polls, Owaisi held a discussion at Futura Sharif in Hooghly district with Abbas Siddiqui.
Since February 16, two rounds of meetings took place between Congress, Left and the ISF.
Earlier, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the final decision on seat sharing between the Congress and Left Front for the West Bengal Assembly elections is yet to be taken as both the parties want to give 'space' to other parties interested in this alliance.
Notably, parties like Indian Secular Front, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will be part of the Left-Congress alliance for the Bengal polls, said Chowdhury.
Before ISF's emergence in the alliance, the Congress party and the Left Front held two rounds of meetings and finalised a seat-sharing agreement for 193 of the total 294 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Elections for 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal are likely to take place in April-May this year. (ANI)