Bengal polls: ISF fields candidates from across religions, castes

The ISF, led by Furfura Sharifsinfluential cleric Abbas Siddiqui, has fielded candidatescutting across religions and castes for the West Bengalassembly elections, in a bid to prove its secular credentials.

The BJP and the Trinamool Congress have accused thenewly floated political outfit of being a party playing theminority card.

Of the 21 candidates the Indian Secular Front has sofar announced as part of its share of seats in the alliancewith the Left Front and the Congress, 10 are either Hinduor belong to Adivasi communities, while the rest are Muslims.

Simul Soren, president of the ISF, said the partyrepresents the interests of the Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs,irrespective of their religious beliefs.

The BJP and the TMC alleged that the Left Front andthe Congress have shed their secular credentials by enteringinto an alliance with the party floated by the 34-year-oldcleric of Muslim shrine Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district.

Denying that the ISF is a communal party, a CPI(M)leader said, “The Siddiqui-led outfit has pledged to fight forthe rights of the backward and downtrodden people of thesociety.” He asserted that his newly floated political outfitwill prove to be the kingmaker in the state which roughlyhas 30 per cent Muslim voters.

Siddiqui had rejected as baseless the accusation thathe has entered the electoral arena to cut into the TMCsMuslim vote base, assiduously nurtured by Mamata Banerjee.

“In the last 10 year, the TMC government has onlyfooled the Muslims and Dalits. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjeehas done nothing for them,” Siddiqui had told

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