Humayun Kabir said he wants an electoral deal with the CPI(M) and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) to be sealed by February 15. File | Photo credit: ANI
A meeting between West Bengal Communist Party of India (Marxist) Secretary Md. Salim and suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir, who recently formed the Janata Unnayan Party (JUP), has sparked speculation of an understanding between the two political groups ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
Mr Salim said the meeting was to “understand (Mr Kabir’s) mind”.
Mr. Kabir, on the other hand, said he wanted an electoral deal with the CPI(M) and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) to be sealed by February 15. In the 2021 elections, the Left Front led by the CPI(M) and the Congress entered into an electoral alliance with the ISF. However, the alliance did not make much of a splash in the last parliamentary elections, winning only one Assembly seat in Bhangar, which is represented by ISF MLA Nawsad Siddique.
Mr. Kabir added that he had asked Mr. Salim to speak to the ISF on his behalf. On Friday, Mr Kabir said he had spoken to Abbas Siddique, the force behind the ISF. He also called a public meeting in Murshidabad on Saturday as a “show of force”.
The meeting between the CPI(M) state secretary and the JUP leader, who called for a mosque on the lines of the Badri Masjid, brought some embarrassment to the party. But there are people in the party who say the primary objective should be to defeat the Trinamool Congress.
Just ten days ago, ISF MLA Nawshad Siddique said it was imperative to form an alliance with the Congress and the Left Front as soon as possible to defeat the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming assembly polls. “To defeat the Trinamool Congress and the BJP. To ensure that they can be defeated easily. We have to form an alliance with the Left parties and the Congress within a month,” the ISF leader said.
Electoral politics in the state was bipolar with the Trinamool and the BJP competing against each other. The Left parties and the Congress party provided the voters with a third alternative, but they did not taste much electoral success. The meeting of two key leaders of the opposition front signals a new consensus ahead of the polls.
Published – 31 Jan 2026 09:49 IST
