WB CPI(M) State Secy In Dock For Secret Meet On Assembly Poll-Pact
“No discussion was held on alliance. I wanted to know from Mr Kabir about his target and what he wants to do and will do for his purpose as he launched a new political party" : Mohammad Salim
KOLKATA: West Bengal CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Salim has been in the eye of a storm within his party after he secretly met suspended Trinamul Congress MLA of Bharatpur and Janata Unnyan Party founder Humayun Kabir at a hotel in New Town on Wednesday evening to explore the possibility of an alliance including a seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Assembly Election here.
The two leaders’ sudden meeting, which lasted for an hour from 8.30 pm, came to light when the media turned up there. Mr Salim said, “No discussion was held on alliance. I wanted to know from Mr Kabir about his target and what he wants to do and will do for his purpose as he launched a new political party. For me, it was about directly understanding what lies behind and ahead. Everything can't be grasped from the media.”
The former CPI(M) MP added, “Alliance can't be forged like this in a hurry. We have the Left Front. The question is about sharing the seats which we are yet to start discussing. We will first talk about it within the Left Front and then with those outside. We are also in talks with the Indian Secular Front (ISF) and many other parties also. But neither we nor they have taken a final decision. We have to test something before doing anything. It's all about gauging the mind first."
Mr Kabir however said, “Mr Salim is a veteran Communist and prominent politician in the state. It was a very cordial meeting with him. The discussion was about forging an alliance in the upcoming polls. I have requested him to finalize our alliance by February 15. I have entrusted him with the responsibility.” On the parallel talks between the Left and ISF, he added, “We recently saw that the ISF wrote a letter to Left Front chairman Biman Bose for a fresh alliance since they had it in 2021. I urged Mr Salim to understand the ISF and act accordingly.”
Mr Salim’s efforts however landed him in the dock within the CPI(M) as many leaders found themselves in the dark about his meeting with Mr Kabir and raised questions in private about his motive. They claimed that although they had attended their party's state secretariat meeting on Wednesday morning as per routine, they were neither conveyed nor consulted about their state secretary’s confidential plan in his personal capacity.
They also pointed out that Mr Salim’s move turned out to be a desperate attempt on communal line, in sharp contrast to their party's secular party line, to woo the Muslim voters in the polls by partnering with a new outfit which already declared its focus on the minority community with its founder's controversial initiative to raise a Babri Masjid-styled mosque at Beldanga in Murshidabad. Mr Salim however said on Thursday, “Communists need to keep an eye on what is happening in the state. That's why I attended the meeting.”
