Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui launches Indian Secular Front; open to TMC alliance

Launching a new political front in West Bengal, Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui on Thursday announced the 'Indian Secular Front (ISF)' in a press conference in Kolkata. Siddiqui said that he was open to allying with any party except BJP as he thought they were dangerous. Stating that the party will contest on all 294 seats as part of a front, he said 'Democracy, Secularism & Justice' were the foundation of the party. West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee holds fort with 222 seats, will go to polls in April-May 2021.

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Siddiqui launches Indian Secular Front

"The party's main objective would be to stand and fight for the lost Democracy, Secularism & Justice in the state, to fight for economic freedom & equality. We will contest election as a front, as of now I will say on all 294 seats. We will, later on, see about an alliance. I haven't thought about it now," said Siddiqui.

Hinting at an alliance with TMC, he added, "I have kept my option open of joining a front with any party except BJP. It's not my job to work for the survival or interest of TMC & Mamata Banerjee. To stop BJP all parties must unite. Whether I will join hands with Tmc or not is hypothetical, but its upto them to initiate. I think BJP is dangerous for the nation. We will not ally with them.  I don't want to be king, I want to be the king-maker."

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Owaisi: 'Will contest along with Siddiqui'

Taking the Bengal poll plunge on 3 January, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi announced that his party will contest the upcoming state assembly elections along with prominent Muslim leader Abbas Siddiqui. Owaisi who met Siddiqui at Futura Sharif in Bengal's Hooghly district said that he will soon decide as to which districts and how many seats will the AIMIM contest on. Hitting out at Owaisi, Mohammed Yahiya- the chairman of the Bengal Imams' Association stated that their community does not need any Muslim leader from outside West Bengal adding that they will not allow the division of Muslim votes in the state.

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Thereafter, the AIMIM president countered this charge citing that the "undivided vote" of Muslims had not fetched any dividends for the community for over 70 years. To buttress his point, he highlighted that 37% of WB's prison population is Muslim despite the community constituting only 27% of the state's population. Responding to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee who has levelled a massive 'money charge' against the AIMIM and accused it of colluding with the BJP, Owaisi reminded that the Chief Minister was part of the NDA under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Gujarat riots took place at that time. AIMIM which won 5 seats in Bihar and 44 seats in the high-octave Hyderabad civic polls, is planning to contest in UP, Assam and Gujarat.

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