Sanyukta Morcha
AbbreviationSM
Founded2021
Preceded byMahajot (Left-INC alliance)
IdeologyBig tent
Factions:
Communism[1]
Marxism-Leninism[2][3]
Secularism[4]
Left-wing nationalism
Socialism
Marxism[5]
Political positionCentre-left to left-wing
Seats in Lok Sabha
2 / 42
Seats in Rajya Sabha
1 / 16
Seats in West Bengal Legislative Assembly
1 / 294

Sanjukta Morcha, alternatively Sanyukta Morcha (transl. United Front),[6] is a political alliance formed ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election as an alternative to the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. It was led by Communist Party of India (Marxist).[7][8] After the election, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the head of Congress, declared the end of any alliance with Indian Secular Front[9][10][11][12][13] Later on CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the electoral alliances was over after the polls, but the political understanding between Left, Congress and ISF will continue.[14][15]

Background

Following the heavy defeats in the 2011 Legislative Assembly election and the 2014 general election, the CPI(M) welcomed ideas of the alliance even with non-communist parties. The first signs came when in the Siliguri municipal election, CPI(M) made some local understanding with INC resulting in CPI(M) leader Ashok Bhattacharya being appointed as the mayor. This success got popularity as Siliguri Model.

After the success of the model, in the long run, some Congress and CPI(M) leader advocated for a Left-Congress alliance.[16] This gradually materialized into "alliance" between INC and Left Front in all the seats except in Murshidabad district.

Given the political history of West Bengal, the materialisation of an alliance between the Congress & the CPI(M), 2 parties that have been bitter rivals of each other since the 1970s & have a history of unleashing political violence against each other's cadres, took the political circles of the state by surprise. After much dispute and secession of SUCI(C) and CPI(ML)L from the Left Front, both Congress and Communists formed an understanding basis of what they called "seat-sharing", strongly objecting to the use of the word "alliance".

Left Front consisting of CPI(M), CPI, RSP and All India Forward Bloc along with INC released their respective candidate list in several rounds after consultations and bargaining.[17][18]

In 2016, Secular Democratic Alliance[19] or locally known as Mahajot was formed on the broad agreement that some political parties proposed before the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election for fighting against Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, & the Bharatiya Janata Party on a national level. Subsequently, Mahajot succeeded to Sanjukta Morcha in 2021.

Members

Party Symbol Leader(s)
Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M)
Mohammed Salim
Indian National Congress INC
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
Communist Party of India CPI
Swapan Banerjee
All India Forward Bloc AIFB
Debabrata Biswas
Revolutionary Socialist Party RSP
Manoj Bhattacharya
Indian Secular Front[a] ISF
Nawsad Siddique

Electoral history

West Bengal Legislative Assembly election
Election Year Overall votes % of overall votes Total seats seats won/
seats contensted 		+/- in seats Sitting side
2021
 59,71,604 10.04% 294
1 / 294
 Decrease76 —

Ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Indian Secular Front joined the alliance with Left Front and Indian National Congress.[20] The alliance was announced in a rally of Left Front (West Bengal) in the Brigade Parade Ground.[21] The Left Parties will contest in 165 seats, Congress in 92 and ISF in 37 seats.

Despite a spirited campaign, both the Left Front and the Indian National Congress drew a blank in the election with a considerable decrease in their respective vote shares and the Indian Secular Front (contesting in the name and symbol of the Rashtriya Secular Majlis Party) wrested the Bhangar Assembly constituency from the All India Trinamool Congress.

The Left Front supported Indian National Congress candidate Bayron Biswas for by-election in Sagardighi Assembly constituency.[22] He defeated TMC candidate Debasish Bandopadhyay by a margin of 22,986 votes. However, Biswas later defected to the TMC.

West Bengal local body elections
Election Year Overall votes % of overall votes Gram Panchayat Panchayat Samiti Zila Parishad
2023
 95,65,359 23.02%
6,822 / 63,229
459 / 9,730
17 / 928

On 2 March 2023, CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim, in a press meeting, said that smaller anti-TMC and anti-BJP forces including the Indian Secular Front supported INC candidate Bayron Biswas. He also added that alliance of Left and Centrist forces and other parties will continue in 2023 Panchayat elections and 2024 parliamentary election.[23] In May 2023, he said that Left, Congress and ISF are finalising seat-sharing arrangements for the 2023 election and will contest together in 2024 Parliamentary election.[24]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Indian Secular Front is an unregistered political party and it contested the election on the "Envelope" symbol and name of Bihar-based political party Rashtriya Secular Majlis Party (RSMP).

References

  1. ^ Chakrabarty, Bidyut (2014). Communism in India: Events, Processes and Ideologies. Oxford University Press. p. 314. ISBN 978-0-199-97489-4.
  2. ^ "Brief History of CPI - CPI". Archived from the original on 9 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  3. ^ Bidyut Chakrabarty (2014). Communism in India: Events, Processes and Ideologies. Oxford University Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-19-997489-4.
  4. ^ Soper, J. Christopher; Fetzer, Joel S. (2018). Religion and Nationalism in Global Perspective. Cambridge University Press. pp. 200–210. ISBN 978-1-107-18943-0.
  5. ^ "Party constitution". India: All India Forward Bloc. 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  6. ^ "With Brigade Rally, Left-Congress-ISF's 'Sanyukta Morcha' Kicks Of Bengal Poll Campaign". Outlook India. 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  7. ^ Pradipta Tapadar (January 1, 2016). "West Bengal Assembly Elections 2016: CPI(M), Left Divided Over Alliance With Congress". Pradipta Tapadar.
  8. ^ "Sonia Gandhi gives nod to Left-Congress alliance in Bengal". August 24, 2019.
  9. ^ Soumya Das (February 19, 2019). "Left-Congress alliance in a mess".
  10. ^ Sam Solomon, Jyoti Prasad Chatterjee (May 22, 2016). "CPI-M and Congress alliance to continue in Bengal".
  11. ^ Romita Datta (May 19, 2016). "West Bengal results: It's Mamata all the way, Left-Congress experiment fails".
  12. ^ "West Bengal: Left-Congress alliance weak in arithmetic and chemistry".
  13. ^ "Bengal Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury does not want ISF as an ally in future". The Hindu. PTI. 2021-05-10. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-05-15.((cite news)): CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. ^ "Samyukta Morcha over, says Yechury; age bar lowered". The Statesman. 14 August 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  15. ^ "CPM: ভোট শেষ, সংযুক্ত মোর্চাও শেষ, স্পষ্ট করলেন Yechury, একতরফা সিদ্ধান্ত: Adhir". Zee 24 Ghanta (in Bengali). 17 September 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Left-Congress alliance in West Bengal Elections 2016, hinted Left leaders". infoelections.
  17. ^ "West Bengal Assembly Election Left Front Candidate List 2016". Infoelection.
  18. ^ "West Bengal Assembly Election Congress Candidate List 2016". Infoelection.
  19. ^ SUHRID SANKAR CHATTOPADHYAY (30 March 2016). "Uniting 'secular, democratic' forces". frontline.thehindu.com. Kolkata: The Hindu. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  20. ^ "Left-Cong-ISF Sanyukta Morcha kick-starts Bengal poll campaign". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  21. ^ "Bengal Elections: Million Plus People at Brigade Rally Heralds Left-Led Sanjukta Morcha". NewsClick. 2021-03-01. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  22. ^ Left-Backed Congress Candidate Leads Trinamool In Bengal's Sagardighi, retrieved 2023-03-04
  23. ^ Press Conference, retrieved 2023-03-04
  24. ^ The fight in West Bengal in 2024 will be between the Trinamool Congress-BJP on the one hand and the CPI(M)-Congress-ISF on the other, retrieved 2023-06-29
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