One Year Forward Planning, Left Front In Bengal To Finalise Seating Sharing Formula By April’25 For 2026 Polls

In a surprise move, the Left Front in West Bengal has decided to finalise the seat-sharing formula by April this year. The 2026 Assembly elections may be held between April and May. The one-year advance planning is to prevent any future complications. A senior leader from one of the Left’s allied parties revealed that all parties are expected to provide an update on their strength in each constituency by end March, detailing their ground-level presence and influence. At one time, the Forward Bloc dominated large areas of Cooch Behar, the CPI held sway over undivided Midnapore, and the RSP had strong organizations in South Dinajpur and areas like Joynagar and Kultali in South 24 Parganas. But the political landscape has drastically changed and the Left Front’s 34 years of uninterrupted rule was brought to an end by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress some 14 years ago. According to Left Front sources, recently, in six by-elections to Assembly seats, the CPM contested only one seat on its own, in Taldangra, where it secured just over 10% of the vote. In other areas like Madarihat, the RSP, in Sitai, the Forward Bloc, and in Medinipur, the CPI garnered just 1-3% of the vote. This shift in support has prompted the Left Front to discard the seat-sharing formula that had been in place since the 1977 Assembly elections. However, as the Left Front navigates the altered political landscape, it has sought seat-sharing agreements with parties like Congress, the Indian Secular Front (ISF), and even smaller Left groups such as the CPM (Liberation), which had been outside the Front in recent times. Looks like the Left Front, particularly the CPI(M), is making serious attempts to adjust to new realities.