Kolkata, January 11 (IANS). Congress Screening Committee (West Bengal) Chairman BK Hariprasad said on Sunday that the first meeting of the screening committee was held on Sunday. He said that the party high command will soon hold a meeting with the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee leadership so that the strategy for the upcoming assembly elections can be finalized.
Speaking to IANS, Hariprasad said, “This was our first meeting regarding the assembly elections. Before going to Bengal and finalizing the entire process, we will coordinate with the Bengal in-charge and the state president.”
On January 4, the All India Congress Committee, in view of the assembly elections in the state, appointed B.K. Hariprasad was declared the chairperson of the West Bengal Screening Committee. The first meeting since the formation of the committee was held on Sunday.
When asked about how many seats the party will contest and the possible alliance partners in the state, Hariprasad said, “All decisions will be taken by Ghulam Mir, who is the in-charge secretary, and after that we will move ahead accordingly.”
In the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections, Congress contested the elections in alliance with the Left Front and the Indian Secular Front. However, the party could not win a single seat in the 294-seat West Bengal Assembly elections. After the election defeat, Congress and Left Front decided to part ways and contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state separately.
As of now, there have been no firm talks with the Left Front leaders regarding the electoral alliance for the upcoming assembly elections. The West Bengal Congress leadership is waiting for instructions from the party high command before holding formal talks with any party.
Note that on January 7, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had appointed its leaders as AICC Senior Observers for the upcoming assembly elections in poll-bound states like Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and West Bengal with immediate effect. For the assembly elections in West Bengal, the party had appointed Sudip Roy Barman, Shakeel Ahmed Khan and Prakash Joshi as senior observers.
–IANS
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