Secular Democratic Alliance | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | SDA |
| Leader | |
| Lok Sabha Leader | Isha Khan Choudhury |
| Rajya Sabha Leader | Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya |
| Founded | 2024 |
| Merger of | |
| Preceded by | Sanjukta Morcha |
| Ideology | Communism Democratic socialism Social democracy Progressivism |
| Political position | Left-wing (including centre-left and far-left factions) |
| Alliance | Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (National level) |
| Seats in Lok Sabha | 1 / 42 |
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | 1 / 16 |
| Seats in West Bengal Legislative Assembly | 0 / 294 |
Secular Democratic Alliance [1] [2] or Left-Congress Alliance is a political alliance formed ahead of the 2024 Indian general election in West Bengal by the Left Front and the Indian National Congress in opposition to the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal. [3] [4] [5]
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". [6] After the success of the model, in the long run, some Congress and CPI(M) leader advocated for a Left-Congress alliance. [7] This gradually materialized into "alliance" between INC and Left Front.
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. The precedence of the Left Front providing outside support to the UPA-I government in 2004-2008 was cited in support. 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".
In 2016, Mahajot [8] [9] [10] was formed on the broad agreement that some political parties proposed before the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election for fighting against the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal and the Bharatiya Janata Party on national level. Left Front consisting of CPI(M), CPI, RSP, AIFB and DSP along with INC released their respective candidate list in several rounds after consultations and bargaining. [11] [12] However, the alliance failed to gain the majority seats in the assembly elections. [13] [14] Afterwards, ahead of 2019 Indian general election, the alliance between the Congress and the Left Front is off the cards as both camps could not agree on a seat-sharing formula for Lok Sabha elections. [15] [16]
Subsequently, Mahajot succeeded to Sanjukta Morcha [17] in 2021 with the joining of ISF in the alliance. 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. That was the first time when, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly was devoid of any Left Front or INC MLA. [18] Afterwards, ahead of 2024 Indian general election, ISF decided to contest alone in the Lok Sabha polls due to some differences in seat sharing and marks the end of alliance with Left and Congress. [19] Thereafter, Sanjukta Morcha succeeded to LF-INC Alliance [20] or Secular Democratic Alliance. On 29 March, 2024 hill-based Hamro Party president Ajoy Edwards joined hands with the alliance to take on both the BJP and the TMC in Darjeeling Lok Sabha polls. [21]
| Election Year | Overall Votes | % of overall votes | Total seats | Seats won | +/- in seats | +/- in vote share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 6,645,398 | 11.03 | 42 | 1 |  1 | 2.02 |
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electoral seats, and one of the national parties of India. The party was founded through a splitting from the Communist Party of India in 1964 and it quickly became the dominant faction.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is a right-wing conservative Indian political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was founded in 1998 and currently controls the government of India as well as the government of 19 Indian states and one Union territory.
The All India Trinamool Congress is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a breakaway faction from the Indian National Congress and rapidly rose to prominence in the politics of West Bengal under her leadership. Presently, it is ruling the state of West Bengal beside being the third-largest party in India in terms of number of MPs just after the BJP and INC.
Mohammed Salim is an Indian politician, who is the incumbent State Secretary in West Bengal of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was inducted in the politburo of CPI(M) in the 21st party congress organised at Visakhapatnam in 2015. He was a Member of the 16th Lok Sabha, representing Raiganj constituency. Earlier, he was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha, representing the Calcutta North East constituency of West Bengal. After delimitation, in the 2009 Lok Sabha election Salim contested the new Calcutta North constituency, and lost to Sudip Bandyopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress. Mohammed Salim is contesting the 2024 Indian general election as the Left Front candidate from the Murshidabad.
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Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee.
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Siliguri Assembly constituency is an assembly constituency in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Ashok Bhattacharya is an Indian politician and the former mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation. He is a member of Communist Party of India (Marxist). He is a prominent leader of CPI(M) in the northern region of West Bengal. He was the Minister of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs in the Government of West Bengal for three consecutive terms (1996–2011).
Bangaon Uttar is an assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is reserved for scheduled castes.
Legislative Assembly election was held in 2016 for the 294 seats of the Vidhan Sabha in the state of West Bengal in India. The All India Trinamool Congress under Mamata Banerjee won 211 seats, and thus was reelected with an enhanced majority. Like in the 2011 election, the poll was held in six phases, with the first phase divided into two days. The first phase was held in Naxalite-Maoist affected Red corridor areas with two polling dates: 4 April and 11 April. The other phases were held on 17, 21, 25, 30 April and 5 May. The result of the election was declared on 19 May.
The Left Front is an alliance of left-wing political parties in the Indian state of West Bengal. It was formed in January 1977, the founding parties being the Communist Party of India (Marxist), All India Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Marxist Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Communist Party of India and the Biplobi Bangla Congress. Other parties joined in later years, most notably the Communist Party of India.
The 2019 Indian general election were held in India between April and May 2019 to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha.
Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal, is the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Indian state of West Bengal. The party's headquarters is located in Kolkata, the capital of the state. Sukanta Majumdar is currently appointed as the president of BJP West Bengal.
The Indian Secular Front is an Indian political party formed in West Bengal by Abbas Siddiqui, an influential cleric of the shrine of Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district..Secular is just a brand name and not to be taken in literal meaning.
Minakshi Mukherjee is an Indian politician from West Bengal. She is the state secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). She previously was the state president of DYFI, the youth wing of CPIM. She was fielded as the Left Front candidate from Sanjukta Morcha against Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee and BJP Leader Suvendu Adhikari in the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly Election from Nandigram, but lost to Suvendu Adhikari.
The 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election for 292 constituencies of the 294 constituencies in West Bengal was held between 27 March to 29 April 2021 in eight phases.
Gorkhaland Territorial Administration election will be held on 26 June 2022 to elect all 45 members of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, in West Bengal state, India.
United Opposition Forum; abbr.UOF), formerly known as Mahajot, is a political alliance of 15 secular and democratic parties in Indian state of Assam.
