Indian Secular Front
The Indian Secular Front (abbr. ISF) is an unregistered political party which contested the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election on "Envelope" symbol and name of Bihar based political party Rashtriya Secular Majlis Party (RSMP) of MD Asharul Haque.[1][2] The party was formed in West Bengal by Abbas Siddique, an influential cleric of the shrine of Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district in January 2021.[3] This party was formed ahead of the West Bengal state election of 2021[4] and joined the Mahajot led by Indian National Congress and Left Front for the 2021 Assembly polls[5] against the Bharatiya Janata Party and All India Trinamool Congress as a alternative.[6][7] However, the Congress leader Anand Sharma slammed the party's decision and calls it "painful and shameful".[8] The party will be contested in West Bengal Legislative Assembly election with 28 seats.[9]
Indian Secular Front | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | ISF |
| Leader | Abbas Siddiqui |
| President | Naushad Siddiqui |
| Chairperson | Abbas Siddiqui |
| Founder | Abbas Siddiqui |
| Founded | 24 February 2021 |
| Headquarters | Kolkata |
| Colours | Blue |
| ECI Status | State Party |
| Alliance | Sanyukta Morcha (2021-present) |
| Seats in Lok Sabha | 0 / 543 |
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | 0 / 245 |
| Seats in State Legislative Assemblies |
|
| Number of states and union territories in government | 0 / 31 |
| Election symbol | |
| Envelope | |
| Party flag | |
 | |
Controversies
On March 2, 2021, the West Bengal police recovered a shotgun, bombs and bomb-making equipment from the residence of an ISF activist at Situri followed by the arrest of the accused's father.[10]
On March 12, the party released its first list of 26 constituencies it contested in the assembly elections in West Bengal. The announcement comes amid an ongoing tussle between the ISF and Congress over seat-sharing. The seats the ISF will be contesting are Mahisadal, Canning Purba, Bhangar, Metiabruz, Panchla, Uluberia Purba, Basirhat Uttar, Ashoknagar, Amdanga, Asansol Uttar, Entally, Madhyamgram and Khanakul.[11]
On March 23, Two ISF workers were arrested for attacking the Election Commission convoy during their visit to Haroa to remove objectionable political banners which violate the Moral Code of Conduct (MCC).[12] The party borrowed the symbol from the Rashtriya Secular Majlis Party (RSMP) of Bihar and the nomination papers that ISF candidates have submitted to the Election Commission is also in the name of Rashtriya Secular Majlis Party (RSMP) as the Abbas Siddiqui-led ISF has not yet got its symbol from the Commission.[13]
Elections
The party won 1 out of 294 assembly seats in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election 2021 from Bhangar with 109063 votes.[14]
Election Results
| Year | Election | State | Seats Won | Total Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election | West Bengal | 1 | 294 |
West Bengal Legislative Assembly
| Election | Leader | Votes | Seats | Position | Resulting government | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | ± | ||||
| 2021 | Md. Nawsad Siddique | 109063 | 45.1 | 1 / 294
|
– | 4th | AITC majority |
Candidates
The party president Simul Soren will contest from Haripal in Hooghly district, while Mohammed Iqbal and Nuruzzaman will be the party's candidates from Entally and Metiabruz. They are yet to announce the names of candidates from Canning Purba, Jangipara, Bhangar, Madhyamgram, Haroa and Mayureshwar.[15]
| Constituency No. | Constituency | Candidate | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250 | Raipur | Milan Mandi | [16] |
| 208 | Mahisadal | Bikram Chatterjee | |
| 232 | Chandrakona | Goranga Das | |
| 133 | Kulpi | Sirajudin Ghazi | |
| 135 | Mandirbazar | Sanchay Sarkar | |
| 183 | Jagatballavpur | Sk Shabbir Ahmed | |
| 196 | Haripal | Simol Soren | |
| 202 | Khanakul | Faisal Khan | |
| 157 | Metiaburuz | Nuruzzaman | |
| 175 | Panchla | Md Jalil | |
| 176 | Uluberia Purba | Abbasuddin Khan | |
| 89 | Ranaghat Uttar Purba | Dinesh Chandra Biswas | |
| 90 | Krishnaganj | Anup Mondal | |
| 125 | Basirhat | Baijid Amin | |
| 123 | Sandeshkhali | Barun Mahato | |
| 82 | Chapra | Kanchan Maitra | |
| 101 | Ashoknagar | Tapas Chakraborty | |
| 102 | Amdanga | Jamal Uddin | |
| 163 | Asansol Uttar | Md Mustaqim | |
| 281 | Entally | Md Iqbal Alam |
See also
References
- ↑ ঘোষ, প্রদীপ্তকান্তি (16 March 2021). "ভোটে লড়ছে না 'আইএসএফ', প্রার্থী দেবে 'অন্য দল'". TV9Bangla (in Bengali). Retrieved 17 March 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "ISF to fight polls on borrowed symbol". Millennium Post. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ ""Want To Be Kingmaker": Muslim Preacher Announces Party For Bengal Polls". 21 January 2021.
- ↑ "Indian Secular Front ups ante on seats". 18 February 2021.
- ↑ Ranjan, Abhinav (17 February 2021). "Bengal polls 2021: Indian Secular Front's Abbas Siddique ditches Owaisi, joins Congress-Left alliance". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ↑ Das, Madhuparna (1 March 2021). "Why talks of a 'secular front' against BJP & Trinamool have". ThePrint.
- ↑ Ranjan, Abhinav (17 February 2021). "Bengal polls 2021: Indian Secular Front's Abbas Siddique ditches Owaisi, joins Congress-Left alliance". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ↑ "West Bengal polls 2021: Congress' Anand Sharma calls tie-up with Indian Secular Front 'painful and shameful' - India News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ↑ "30-seat deal with Left: ISF cleric Abbas Siddiqui". telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ↑ "Bombs Recovered From Indian Secular Front Worker's Residence In West Bengal: Police". NDTV.com. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- ↑ User, Super (13 March 2021). "Abbas Siddiqui's ISF releases the first list of 26 seats for Bengal polls". The Federal. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
{{cite web}}:|last1=has generic name (help) - ↑ World, Republic. "EC convoy allegedly attacked in West Bengal's Haroa, no injuries; two ISF workers arrested". Republic World. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
- ↑ "ISF to fight polls on borrowed symbol". Millennium Post. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Election Commission of India". results.eci.gov.in. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ↑ KolkataMarch 15, Press Trust of India; March 15, 2021UPDATED:; Ist, 2021 04:31. "Abbas Siddiqui's ISF releases names of 20 candidates for West Bengal elections". India Today. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 16 March 2021.