Cong ready to go alone in Bengal if CPI(M) doesn't compromise on Raiganj, Murshidabad: Party leaders

The state Congress leadership Monday said it is ready to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections alone in West Bengal if the Left Front does not leave for it the two party-bastions -- Raiganj and Murshidabad, after the CPI(M) proposed a "no mutual contest" for six seats in the state.

In a move to untangle the formula of seat sharing, an arrangement to consolidate anti-BJP votes and anti-Trinamool Congress votes, the CPI(M), after its Central Committee meeting in Delhi, proposed "no mutual contest" in six Lok Sabha seats, currently held by the two parties.

In 2014, the CPI(M) won Raiganj and Murshidabad in a four-cornered contest, though they have been traditional Congress strongholds. While Uttar Dinajpur's Raiganj has been a pocket borough of Congress stalwart Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, Murshidabad's politics has been dominated by party's firebrand leader Adhir Chowdhury.

There were several rounds of talks between the two blocs on seat sharing but Raiganj and Murshidabad have remained the