Kolkata, Oct 17 (NationPress) - The sole legislator of the India Secular Front (ISF) in the state Assembly, Nawsad Siddique, announced on Friday that the ISF, which had an agreement for seat-sharing with the Congress and CPI-M-led Left Front during the 2021 West Bengal elections, is still awaiting a response from the Left Front leadership regarding the proposal to begin similar discussions for the upcoming state polls scheduled for next year.

Siddique mentioned that he had reached out to the state CPI-M Secretary Biman Bose in August, urging him to initiate negotiations for a seat-sharing arrangement for the forthcoming Assembly elections.

Although he received reassurances that discussions would commence post-Durga Puja, which concluded in the first week of October, no concrete feedback to his proposal has been forthcoming.

During the 2021 state Assembly elections, the collaboration among the ISF, Congress, and the Left Front resulted in no representatives from the Left Front or Congress being elected, whereas Siddique emerged as the sole legislator from the alliance.

For the 2024 elections, although the Congress and Left Front maintained a seat-sharing deal in West Bengal, ISF chose to contest independently.

As for the upcoming Assembly elections, none of the three factions have initiated talks regarding seat arrangements, except for Siddique's letter to Bose.

Recent statements from leaders of both the Congress and CPI-M have raised questions on whether a seat-sharing agreement will materialize for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

CPI-M politburo member and party state secretary, Md Salim, earlier remarked that the decision for a seat-sharing arrangement lies with the Congress leadership.

Conversely, State Congress President Subhankar Sarkar indicated that while the final decision rests with the party high command in New Delhi, a majority of district-level leaders prefer that Congress contest independently this time.