Kolkata: Naushad Siddique, the sole All India Secular Front (AISF) representative in West Bengal Assembly, has said that he is willing to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Diamond Harbour constituency where from the sitting MP is Trinamool Congress’ national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
“If my party nominates me I will contest from Diamond Harbour in 2024 and in that case I will make the sitting Lok Sabha member from there a former MP,” Siddique said on Sunday.
He also said if the ruling party’s ‘Diamond Harbour model’ of rampant poll- related violence that was evident in the panchayat elections this year fails to work in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the results will surely be different then.
AISF sources said that Siddique contesting from Diamond Harbour in 2024 is certain whether the party gets the support from the Congress-Left Front alliance or not.
Siddique has already made it clear that despite the alliance and understanding with the Congress and Left Front in the 2021 Assembly polls, there will be no such alliance in 2024.
He also expressed his reservations about the grand opposition INDIA bloc and said that the presence of Trinamool Congress in that opposition platform is the only hurdle for AISF to be a part of it.
“I personally have great admiration towards Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Had Trinamool Congress not been in the INDIA bloc, AISF would not have hesitated to join hands with the opposition forces. But the presence of Trinamool Congress is the only hurdle,” Siddique said.
Besides Diamond Harbour, AISF also has plans to field its own candidates independently in a number of Lok Sabha constituencies in districts like Murshidabad, Malda, North Dinajpur, Cooch Behar, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and Howrah which have a substantial proportion of minority votes, enough to decide the fates of the candidates.
The AISF has started preparations for the formation of booth-committees in these constituencies. Siddique himself is moving throughout the state monitoring the process.
