The alliance very much exists on paper. State Congress chief, Adhir Ranjan Choudhury and Left Front chairman, Biman Bose will swear by it. But of late, things have started going downhill. The leaders of the two alliance partners are pulling out all stops to retard the process and stop it.

Discordant voices in the CPI(M) turned from murmurs to full throated disapproval before rural polls. This was the state of affairs between the Left Front in general and the CPI(M) in particular. Our alliance with Left Front remains as it is, Choudhury said recently. But he pointed out that no amicable relations exists between Congress and Indian Secular Front.

State CPI(M) leaders have been aware of a sense of disenchantment among their rank and file about their alliance partner, Congress. The fact remains that it was the Congress which enjoyed the major portion of the dividend reaped from the alliance since 2016 state Assembly elections. After being in the political wilderness for years, the Congress won in more seats than the front in 2016 elections. Veteran leader, Abdul Mannan was nominated as the leader of the Opposition

Though Congress Legislative Party’s ranks were thinned by defection to Trinamool Congress, the alliance maintained remarkable floor management in the Assembly. The Treasury bench members led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee were often caught on the wrong foot by the Opposition.

The political fortune of this unlikely alliance hit a new low in 2021 Assembly elections. While the Congress Left combine secured a mere 9.96 per cent votes, Trinamool's vote share surged to 48 per cent while the same for BJP stood at 38.23 per cent.

Just as the alliance seemed to be in a blind spot, ruling Trinamool dispensation stumbled on a raft of issues including cash for teaching jobs and jobs in municipalities. A string of stinging court orders led to imprisonment of a senior minister, Partha Chatterjee and several leaders helped Congress and Left regain some lost ground.

Joint agitations by the alliance partners enthused activists of both the parties. Victory at Sagardighi by-election cemented the alliance. But downslide in the alliance came just as it appeared to be on a new high after the victory of Left supported Congress nominee Bairan Biswas at Sagardighi by-election in Murshidabad. As the alliance leaders were chalking out a new game plan marking out Sagardighi success as the beginning of reclaiming lost ground, Biswas switched loyalty to Trinamool.

Resentment of different district CPI(M) leaders came out in the open in the state committee meeting of the party. The irate leaders questioned the rationale of supporting Congress which cannot retain the sole legislator in its flock for months. Though such desertions had thinned CLP's ranks earlier, it had not triggered much inter-party resentment in CPI(M). The recent outburst can perhaps be sourced to the desertion of the sole MLA representing the alliance.

The state CPI(M) leadership was told by some district leaders that the Congress activists do not campaign with the same enthusiasm for Left candidates as front rank and file do for Congress nominees. There is some truth in the allegation as Congress activists had been at the receiving end of Left atrocities before 2016 alliance was cemented. Seeing its district leaders voicing grassroot level activists' feelings, the CPI(M) leadership changed tack. Without upsetting the alliance, it fielded candidates on its own in what are considered to be traditional Congress territory- Malda and Murshidabad.

It was learnt from CPI(M) sources that there are many a cases of overlapping of candidates by the Left Front and the Congress in the coming rural polls. Between them, the poll alliance partners have fielded nearly 70,000 nominees in the three tiers of the election to ensure democracy at the grassroot. The chance of ending Trinamool hegemony in these districts is threatened by this development, a senior CPI (M) leader said on condition of anonymity. But given the old ties between the two parties, our hopes have not been dashed, he added.

Come 8 July, Congress and Left Front candidates will contest in their respective spheres of influence. Post poll proximity between Left and Congress is likely as results are declared when the party leaders will be tasked to persuade the winners to close ranks against TMC and BJP thereby the fissures in inter-party cohesion will not be allowed to widen into cracks before 2024 Lok Sabha elections. (IPA Service)