Siddiqui has been in judicial custody since the third week of January. It was the fallout of a procession he was leading on the foundation day of ISF whose entry in the city and subsequent spillover coupled with clashes with men in uniform led to a traffic snarl which crippled Kolkata for hours.

Having won from Bhangar Assembly constituency in South-24-Parganas in 2021 Assembly elections, Siddiqui enjoys an unique distinction in this 294-member House. Apart from the BJP legislators, he stands out in the Opposition as a sole people's representative not sharing the ideology of the saffron camp.

The city was recently greeted by the sight of Left Front chairman, Biman Bose at the head of a procession of front activists and ISF supporters shouting slogans demanding the release of Siddiqui and other political prisoners. It was the continuation of an alliance between the front and ISF inked earlier.

The demand had support from state Congress chief, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Strangely enough, the state BJP too came out in support of it. There are no Left or Congress legislators to keep Siddiqui company in the Opposition benches. For none of them have won, a state of affairs the state witnessed for the first time in post-independence period.

Siddiqui is a Pirzada at Furfurasharif (shrine) in Hooghly district of South Bengal which is the second most venerated mazar-e-sharif after Ajmer in the country. Incidentally, it is the Left Front read CPI(M) which swears by agonist credentials whose support he received during the elections.

Naushad Siddiqui and ISF had rubbed state Congress the wrong way claiming to enjoy the support of the minority community. After all, there is no room for empathy towards an individual or political party which threatens to eat into what more than a century old political outfit considers to be its vote bank.

The Opposition in the state was in a predicament on the eve of the 2021 elections with the front extending its support to both Congress and ISF though these two political outfits never saw eye to eye. Things had come to such a pass that state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was about to leave the podium in the midst of his speech at the grand rally of the Opposition at Brigade Parade ground taking umbrage at the cheers of ISF activists on Siddiqui's arrival as it threatened to drown his address.

Chowdhury continued his speech after he was restrained by front chairman, Biman Bose. But the incident rankled both the men and the political outfits they headed. Yet Chowdhury did condemn Siddiqui's freedom being curbed especially as the latter is a people's representative. Such is the political compulsion of state Congress that it has to stand by an individual it considers to be a political opponent.

The state BJP makes it a point not to support the issues raised by the Left or Congress. But even it extended its support for the demand of Siddiqui emerging as a free man sans any conditions. The reason behind the Bhangar legislator being the recipient of support and sympathy of the Opposition cutting across the political divide is no difficult political equation. It is Siddiqui's wide support base as a pirzada of Furfurasharif. The Sufi shrine has followers in West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and even Bangladesh.

If the ruling Trinamool aims to intimidate Siddiqui's primary support base in Bhangar by his prolonged captivity, opposing the same the Opposition parties in the state wants to be in the good books of the same. The gameplan that come elections, harking back to the collective memory of his support base will yield rich political dividend cannot be faulted.

Yet it did not work out that way in the 2021 elections. The community did not vote en masse for ISF all over the state in the 2021 elections even in areas like Hooghly, Howrah, South-24-Parganas, Malda and Murshidabad where he is stated to have a strong following.

The present rationale behind the show of solidarity by the Opposition in the state now lies beyond electoral arithmetic. It admits in so many words, that it cannot take on the ruling Trinamool on a one on one basis.

Camaraderie with ISF is based on the thought of building a multi-party Opposition against Trinamool. Had not the Opposition in this state closed ranks against Congress, the ruling dispensation of the state in 1977?

Two successive coalition governments on 1967 and 1969 where Congress had no place is another case in point. It is to be kept in mind that in all the three cases, an apparently rag tag Opposition not only took on the only party with a nationwide image and dominance but defeated it too.

Building an Opposition sans any ideological standoffishness for the rural polls and the Lok Sabha elections next year seems to be germinating at the back of the mind of the Opposition leaders. It is only natural conclusion of the political thought process of leaders sans power and its perks, given the fact that the Trinamool has won three successive terms and the Opposition is clueless about the way to cut short the continuance of its regime.

Another reason behind seeking an expeditious release of Siddiqui is his performance in the Assembly. Despite being a lone ISF MLA, he has made his presence felt in more than one occasion.

Notwithstanding minority community votes coalescing around Trinamool in 2021elections, the Bhangar MLA refused to vote in the presidential election contending both nominees had RSS links. In the backdrop of having a brute majority in the Assembly and never failing to shout its concern and support for the minority community from the rooftops, it was an accusation which bitterly stung the ruling dispensation.

Not only did Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay allot more time to Siddiqui, but leader of the Opposition Subhendu Adhikari also allotted the ISF MLA time from his own quota. Another occasion when Siddiqui had the Treasury bench members on the mat when he questioned the spike of silicosis patients across the state and the government's efforts to address the issue. Small wonder, the lone ISF MLA's presence is much sought after by the Opposition in the Assembly sessions. After all, the first time legislator has taken the fight to the Trinamool camp. (IPA Service)