Panchayat polls: WBDF to contest 15,000 seats

Express news service Posted: Feb 17, 2008 at 0101 hrs
Kolkata, February 16 The formation of a coalition by the Trinamool Congress for the upcoming panchayat elections has not deterred the People’s Democratic Conference of India (PDCI) from moving ahead with its own political alliance.

The PDCI announced on Saturday that the West Bengal Democratic Front — led by the party — has decided to contest between 10,000 to 15,000 seats in the panchayat polls. Nine political outfits are members of this alliance.

PDCI chairman and Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind state secretary Siddiqullah Chowdhury said his coalition still favours a one-to-one contest in the upcoming elections but the stand taken by major parties in the Opposition may mislead voters.

He was addressing reporters at the PDCI’s state-level workers’ conference organised at the Students’ Hall on College Street on Saturday.

Sources add expectations of a grand alliance against the CPM still persist.

“Having separate coalitions is not a problem. There can be alliances between coalitions too,” Chowdhury said.

The PDCI has said it will hold a central rally in the first week of March.