News Analysis India

Tag: Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui

  • Bengal polls: Abbas Siddiqui’s ISF seals seat-sharing deal with Left, talks on with Congress

    By PTI
    FURFURA SHARIF: The Indian Secular Front (ISF), led by Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui of Furfura Sharif, said on Friday that it has sealed a seat-sharing agreement with the Left Front for the West Bengal assembly elections, while talks with the Congress are underway.

    Addressing a press conference, Siddiqui said the Left Front has agreed to leave for it 30 seats as part of the Left-Congress-ISF alliance.

    “We have already sealed our alliance with the Left Front. We have got 30 seats as per our choice and are in talks regarding three-four more,” he said.

    “The discussions are still on with the Congress as the seat-sharing deal is still not clear. In total, from both the parties, we had demanded around 70 seats, including the Nandigram seat,” Siddiqui said.

    Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be the Trinamool Congress candidate from Nandigram.

    Siddiqui said that ISF does not have any intention to derail the alliance with Congress.

    “We don’t want to derail this alliance, but we have our demands. We are accommodative and flexible. We want the alliance with the Congress to get concluded as early as possible,” he said.

    Siddiqui, who ditched AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi for the alliance with Left-Congress, also announced that the ISF would take part in the mega rally at Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata on February 28, being organised by the Left-Congress.

    According to Congress sources, the ISF has demanded a few seats in Malda and Murshidabad that the Congress won in the 2016 assembly polls.

    “The ISF is demanding some of the seats that we had won last time. It is tough for a political party to part with seats it had won in the last election. Let’s see what happens,” a Congress leader said.

    Siddiqui joining the Left-Congress alliance has given it an edge in the West Bengal polls, which is being seen mostly as a bipolar contest between the Trinamool Congress and BJP.

    Siddiqui, a pirzada at one of the holiest shrines among Bengali Muslims, launched the ISF last month.

    He created a flutter by meeting Owaisi ahead of the elections but ditched him for the Left-Congress.

    West Bengal has 30 per cent Muslim population — a deciding factor in around 100-110 seats.

    “The inclusion of the ISF in the alliance has provided an added edge to the third force in Bengal ahead of the polls. We are confident that it would no longer be a two-cornered contest,” senior CPI(M) leader Tanmoy Bhattacharya said.

    In case of a close contest, the Left-Congress-ISF alliance will become a deciding factor.

    In 2016, the Congress and Left Front had fought together and bagged 77 seats in the 294-member assembly.

    The alliance broke after the CPI(M)-led Left Front walked away.

    During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the proposed Congress-Left alliance fell apart after the parties could not agree on seat sharing.

    After the dismal performance of the two sides in the Lok Sabha polls, the Left-Congress decided to stitch an alliance to fight the 2021 assembly polls.

    The seat-sharing negotiations between the Left and the Congress have been finalised and details will be announced once the ISF-Congress talks conclude, sources said.

    Elections for the West Bengal assembly will be held in eight phases, up from seven last time, beginning with polling for 30 seats on March 27.

  • Can Asaduddin Owaisi pull off another Bihar in Bengal?

    Online Desk
    The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi grabbed headlines across the nation when he first announced his party’s entry into the West Bengal Assembly election fray after a surprisingly successful campaign in neighbouring Bihar.

    Owaisi, who had trained guns on the state’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for ‘neglecting’ the Muslims in the state, has already been accused of being the B-team of BJP employed solely to cut into the minority vote bank.

    Citing Bihar’s example, where the AIMIM won five out of the nine seats it contested, the Chief Minister alleged the Telangana-based party is being paid in crores by the BJP to split Muslim votes. Owaisi thundered back saying ‘never was a man born who can buy Asaduddin Owaisi with money’.

    The Hyderabad MP will kick off his party’s election campaign in Bengal on February 25 with a rally in the minority-dominated Metiabruz area of Kolkata. However, ahead of the visit, his party is struggling to make headway in an already polarised and volatile election.

    Bengal’s 30 per cent Muslim population plays a decisive role in at least 100 out of the 294 Assembly seats. With the Bharatiya Janata Party riding high on the Jai Shri Ram pitch, these are votes Mamata desperately needs to win another term in office.

    Eyeing the same vote bank in four minority-dominated districts — Malda, Murshidabad, North and South Dinajpur — Owaisi had said his party will follow whatever decision the Furfura Sharif Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui, leader of the Indian Secular Front, takes. Following that initial announcement, Owaisi also paid the influential cleric, who retains a hold over voters in South 24 Paraganas, a visit.

    ALSO READ | ‘Is Modi afraid of Mamata?’: Hurt by CAA delay, Matuas weigh options before Bengal polls

    Siddiqui went at Mamata hammer and tongs after launching his party earlier this year and accused her of further polarising the state by introducing a dole for Muslim clerics. Interestingly, Siddiqui had previously supported the CM in the 2011 and 2016 elections.

    A week ago, the Pirzada joined the alliance with the Left and Congress, where they are still to decide on seat-sharing. This move might leave Owaisi without any official allies since the AIMIM’s political stance nationally can make it difficult for him to join Siddiqui in forming a ‘grand alliance’ with the Congress and CPM.

    AIMIM sources though continue to insist there is still hope and point out the fact that Owaisi and Siddiqui have been in touch over the phone ever since Owaisi’s visit to the latter’s residence. “The Pirzada is just weighing options. He will get back to us and form an alliance with us. We are sure of it. They are in touch with each other,” a highly-placed AIMIM leader said.

    Siddiqui himself on Wednesday confirmed that the talks are ongoing and said it is important to support “Asad Sahab”, even stating that “we should not field candidates” against Owaisi’s party. Will he forge an alliance with the AIMIM if the Congress and CPM fail to meet his demands? The possibility cannot be ruled out.

    For now, all the AIMIM has before them is the ground reality.

    Owaisi’s influence in Bengal remains limited to the Urdu-speaking upper-caste Muslims. When it comes to the rest of Bengal, language will be his first barrier. 

    The party has been working to expand its base in North Dinajpur, a district with close to 50 per cent Muslim population bordering Bihar’s Kishanganj, where the party sealed a thumping victory. There are murmurs of Owaisi’s growing popularity among young voters in the neighbourhood, but little else at the moment, say seasoned observers. 

    The party is keen on contesting at least 40-50 seats, which will be finalised on Thursday after their first core-committee meeting.

  • West Bengal Congress seeks high command nod for dialogue with Indian Secular Front for poll alliance

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Amid seat sharing talks with the Left Front, Congress in poll-bound West Bengal on Thursday sought AICC’s nod to initiate formal dialogue with the newly formed Indian Secular Front (ISF) of Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui for a grand alliance of secular parties sans Trinamool Congress.

    Senior state Congress leader Abdul Mannan, who is also the leader of opposition in the assembly in a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi said he has already started “unofficial dialogue” with ISF and WBPCC president Adhir Chowdhury has visited Siddiqui of Furfura Sharif shrine.

    “The addition of ISF in the Left-Congress alliance may be a game changer in the ensuing assembly elections ….I have started unofficial dialogue with the ISF and the PCC president visited Siddiqui’s place recently. He has discussed the issue with me and is seeking my help because of my personal relation with Pirzada Siddiqui’s family since decades,” Mannan said.

    He said that CPM Politburo member Md Salim has also started discussions with Siddiqui. “He (Siddiqui) is popular for his oratory skills among Muslims, as well as dalits and tribals,” Mannan said adding lakhs of people gather at his meetings in minority, tribal and Dalit areas.

    He said of the 30 per cent Muslim population in state, Bengali speaking Muslims is 90 per cent which is the traditional vote bank of Congress.

    In a development that might upset political equations in Bengal, Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui of Furfura Sharif of Hooghly district floated the new political outfit on January 21 floated contending that he wishes to be the kingmaker after the assembly polls due in April-May.

    The influential Muslim cleric, who became the first religious leader in West Bengal to take the plunge into politics, had said Indian Secular Front plans to contest the elections. The Pirzada had also exuded confidence of a possible tie-up with the Left-Congress alliance.