Seat-share talks complete for 260 constituencies: CPM

Kolkata: CPM on Friday said seat-sharing talks with its alliance partners were complete for nearly 260 seats, while a decision on the rest would be finalised soon. The Left Front and its alliance partners will contest in all 294 seats in Bengal.Addressing the media after CPM's 2-day state committee meeting, party state secretary Md Salim said: "The seat-wise list was placed before the state committee. Talks for a larger secular unity are continuing."
CPM considered a seat-sharing with Congress till the CWC announced that it would go solo in all seats. The Indian Secular Front plans to contest in nearly 70 seats. Salim alleged that there were efforts to create an alternative to Left Front and "break the anti-BJP, anti-Trinamool secular unity".Speaking on the Pratik Ur Rahaman episode, Salim said the party started receiving allegations against him over the past one-and-a-half months. "I tried to handle it myself. Unfortunately, our contacts with him weakened while he strengthened other contacts," he said.