Indian Secular Front (ISF) chief and Bhangar MLA Nawsad Siddiqui on Wednesday issued a renewed call for forging an alliance of like-minded secular forces to dislodge the Trinamool Congress government in Bengal.
He asserted that talks with the Congress, the CPM and other secular forces were on and likely to reach clarity by this month-end.
At a public meeting at the Shaheed Minar ground here to mark the foundation day of his party, Siddiqui said the ISF was prepared to enter into an alliance aimed at defeating both Trinamool and the BJP.
“Our aim is to defeat these two anti-people parties... even if it involves some difficulties. That is why we have appealed to the Congress, the Left Front and other secular forces,” Siddiqui said, claiming the groundwork for such an understanding had been completed on January 21.
He stressed the urgency of concluding the process quickly, warning that delays could weaken its impact on the ground. “We will now put in maximum effort so that this alliance can be materialised by January-end,” Siddiqui told a large crowd.
The rally, titled Adhikar Mahasabesh, also pressed for demands such as scrapping of the amended Waqf Act, an end to alleged harassment linked to the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise and strict action against assaults on migrant labourers.
Reacting to Siddiqui, senior CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said such outreach was natural and necessary. “It is quite natural that there should be talks with parties other than the BJP and Trinamool. Siddiqui has spoken with good intentions,” he said. “Anyone who understands that Bengal has to be saved... will realise that people must unite beyond the destruction being carried out in the name of temple-mosque politics. If the BJP and Trinamool are to be defeated, all secular forces have to unite.”
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury called the proposal "logical". "If all secular forces in Bengal come together, a big opportunity will be created to unsettle Mamata Banerjee,” he said.
Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh accused Siddiqui of indirectly helping the BJP. "These are all B, C and D teams of the BJP," he said.