Indian Secular Front (ISF), once an ally of the Left, has outnumbered the CPM, FB and RSP securing third positions after the BJP in several Lok Sabha (LS) seats like Barasat, Basirhat, Joynagar and Mathurapur in North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas respectively in the battle for LS in West Bengal. The CPM-led Left partners stand fourth after the ISF in these parliamentary constituencies.
ISF that claims to represent minorities like Muslims and Dalits, has been building its base in West Bengal after winning one seat Bhangar in 2021 Assembly election, broke its electoral alliance with the Left Front, which was also tied with the Congress ahead of LS polls and decided to fight the battle for Delhi alone.
Trinamul Congress won the four seats defeating its nearest competitor BJP.
ISF had nominated candidates in eight LS constituencies like Barasat, Basirhat, Joynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Uluberia, Murshidabad and Serampore.
During the Assembly election, the ISF with active support of the CPM had fielded its chairman Naushad Siddiqui in Bhangar in South 24-Parganas district and won the seat.
Formed in 2019, the ISF had also performed impressively in the rural body elections in the state in 2023.
The results of the parliamentary elections in 42 constituencies in the state showed that the ISF has outnumbered the Left-Congress and secured third position in the four constituencies by increasing its vote share also.
Political observers said that ISF, which was not even taken into account as an important factor in almost all exit polls predictions, seems to emerge as a political force in the state two years ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled in 2026 in the state.
In Basirhat constituency, CPM candidate Nirapada Sardar stood fourth after the ISF-nominated Aktar Rahaman Biswas. Similarly in Barasat, ISF candidate Tapas Bandyopadhyay got third position while Sanjib Chattopadhyay of FB was fourth.
Trinamul Congress won both Barasat and Bashirhat seats defeating their nearest competitors of BJP. Interestingly, ISF suffered a setback in its stronghold Bhangar where Mr Siddiqui’s party was trailed by more than 80,000 votes by Trinamul Congress.