NEW DELHI: The CPM on Friday announced it is fielding sitting MPs Mohd Salim and Badaruddoza Khan from Raigunj and Murshidabad constituencies, respectively, in West Bengal, leaving it for the Congress to decide if it would field candidates from these seats.
Left Front Chairman Biman Bose announced Salim and Khan’s candidature in Kolkata after a meeting.
The Congress was demanding these two seats from the left as the Murshidabad seat is a stronghold of Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Choudhary.
The CPM on Monday had announced that will be “no mutual contest” in the six Lok Sabha seats held by both the parties in West Bengal in a move to counter the Trinamool Congress and the BJP in the state.
The central committee of the party has said that the party will support the Congress in states where there is a direct contest between the BJP and the grand old party.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechuy thinks that a triangular fight in West Bengal is better than a quadrangular one.
The CPI also said that it will field candidates in 24 states, and the party’s national executive identified 53 constituencies and finalised the names of candidates for 15 constituencies as part of the first round.
Student leader Kanhaiya Kumar’s name was left out from the first list as the party is pushing for his candidature from Begusarai in Bihar.
The party said that talks on seat-sharing with the RJD-led alliance in the state are still on.
“A decision on him (Kanhaiya Kumar) will be taken after the talks are finalised,” said CPI leader D Raja.