NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (CPI) has identified at least 15 constituencies in eight states including Bihar, Assam, Manipur and Jharkhand, where it wants to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections under electoral pact of opposition parties as part of Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
The general secretary of the CPI, D Raja said that the party might soon announce its nomination for the identified seats subject to its negotiation with INDIA bloc members mainly with the Congress.
The Left party has zeroed in one seat each in Manipur, Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Assam and Jharkhand under the electoral alliance from the Congress. The CPI has already announced its candidate for one of the two seats in Manipur. It has fielded party’s senior member and state unit general secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Laishram Sotinkumar Singh in the Inner Manipur constituency.
In Telangana, it is seeking Warangal Lok Sabha seat. In Maharashtra, it is expecting Shirdi constituency, Bathinda in Punjab and Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh.
Notably, its state leadership in Jharkhand last week announced to go alone and to contest in eight seats in the state. “We have decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls on our own,” CPI state secretary Mahendra Pathak told PTI.
In west Bengal, the CPI is staking claim to three seats including Ghatal and Medinipur from which it has been winning in the past. Raja further stated that talks are underway for three constituencies in Bihar too. The probable seats are Banka, Begusarai and Madhubani.
Raja said that our state leaders are holding talks with their counterparts of political parties including Congress, which are part of the alliance and he is optimistic about a positive outcome. He added that hopefully the Congress would demonstrate maturity like what Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK president MK Stalin showed in the state while sparing seats for coalition partners.
“Discussions pertaining to the identified seats are being held at state level. In case, something is to be conveyed to the national leadership or my intervention is required, I will talk. Seat sharing in Tamil Nadu has already been finalised and the CPI will be contesting on two seats in the state. Stalin’s seat-sharing arrangement illustrates maturity and understanding of prevailing political situations. The Congress should also be accommodative to each member of the alliance because the target is to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” said Raja.
As part of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), the CPI got four seats to contest in Kerala—Wayanad, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Mavelikkara.