CPI(M) firm on not vacating 2 seats for Congress in Bengal, alliance talks in rough weather

The CPI(M) is firm on not giving up its claim on the two sitting Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in favour of the Congress, which could create a major roadblock in the seat-sharing talks between the two parties, senior Left Front leaders said Wednesday.

The two sides have already held several rounds of talks but were unable to untangle the skein of Raiganj and Murshidabad, the only seats the CPI(M) won in the last Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal.

"No. We offered no contest in sitting seats. It's now up to them," a senior CPI(M) leader told PTI in Delhi, to a question whether the party was ready to negotiate on the two seats.

The comments come after Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra flew to Delhi and met party chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday to discuss the issue.

Gandhi assured Mitra that he would talk to CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury to resolve the impasse, state Congress leaders said in Kolkata.

If the CPI(M) and the Congress remain firm on their stands, it might lead to a collapse of the seat-sharing talks between the two sides that are struggling to counter the ruling Trinamool Congress and a surging BJP in the state, which has 42 parliamentary constituencies.

On the matter, another Left Front leader told PTI, "These are two sitting seats, why should we vacate it? It makes no sense."