Saira Shah Halim, the niece of veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah, is confident of repeating the 2022 performance in the Lok Sabha. Halim, who has revived the CPI(M) s fortunes in the Ballygunge Assembly seat in West Bengal, believes that the TMC-BJP binary can be broken. The Left is facing massive anti-incumbency due to various scams, with nearly 26,000 teachers losing their jobs and the former education minister in jail. Halim believes that the Left needs to focus on core people s issues, such as education, jobs, sanitation, air index, water, and illegal construction.