Congress’s ‘solo’ gamble in West Bengal: Why decision to dump Left may be right | India News

New Delhi: Hall Congress Is the decision to go solo in West Bengal a bold political move keeping in mind the party’s long-term gains? Or is it a politically risky move in a state where the grand-old party has literally been wiped off the ground? The Congress, facing an existential crisis in the state, broke its alliance with the Left and announced going solo in all 294 seats in the upcoming assembly elections. Now, consider this information:

In both these elections, the Congress allied with the Left to take on the common enemy – the ruling Trinamool Congress and its leader. Mamata Banerjee. The Congress’s election strategy and political campaign focused on a very strong anti-Mamata theme, led by then party chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a known staunch and vocal critic of the Trinamool chief.

Interestingly, the Congress and the Left are unrelenting despite all guns blazing against Mamata BJP Gain ground and occupy the opposing space. The story of the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal was the rise of the BJP as the main opposition party and the simultaneous decline of the Congress and the Left in state politics.So, while the Congress’s numbers in the assembly fell from 44 in 2016 to 0 in 2021, the BJP’s score rose from 3 in 2016 to 77 in 2021. In terms of vote share, the pattern was more alarming Congress dropped from 12.25% to 3.03% and BJP jumped from 10.16% to 37.97%.The Congress’s decision to contest alone may signal the party’s determination to take the long and arduous road to revival, but it perhaps ignores the grim reality of the party’s declining presence and influence in West Bengal. Does the party have enough time to make its presence felt among the voters? More so, when its main rivals – Trinamool Congress and BJP have already made huge strides in the field to woo voters.Mamata is all out in the fourth termMamata Banerjee and her Trinamool launched an all-out attack on the Election Commission … from the streets of Kolkata to the Supreme Court in the national capital. Mamata also announced many welfare-driven measures in her interim budget to set the electoral narrative ahead of the high-stakes polls.Some key announcements include:

BJP in overdrive The BJP is also in overdrive as the Trinamool Congress makes another attempt to wrest power. Top BJP leaders in Bengal and Delhi have relentlessly linked almost every incident in the state to the failure of the Trinamool government in their attacks on Mamata Banerjee. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have already addressed many political rallies in the constituency. BJP chief Nitin Naveen is holding meetings with all stakeholders to invigorate the party’s cadres.Here’s a look at some of the key steps the BJP has already taken:

Congress is absent from work Amidst all this political buzz, the Congress, unfortunately, has been absent from action so far. The Congress leadership seems to have done nothing but influence the change of leadership in the state after past electoral defeats. Subhankar Sarkar succeeded Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as West Bengal Congress chief in September 2024. Since Adhir was a staunch critic of Mamata Banerjee and the biggest obstacle to any possible alliance with the Trinamool, the changing of the guard was interpreted as a change in the party’s approach with the Trinamool chief. However, once it became clear that Mamata was not interested in an alliance, the Congress had no choice but to go it alone in the assembly elections. Continuing with the Left alliance was not an option given the fact that the Congress has high stakes in Kerala where the CPM-led LDF is its main rival.After taking charge, Subhankar Sarkar said that his two immediate missions were the 2026 assembly elections and strengthening the organization. However, just a few months away from the 2026 election battle, he still seems far from achieving those two. Is ‘single’ the best way forward?Over the years, the Congress has lost its political base to regional parties across the state. Many regional parties have grown in the state at the expense of the Congress. Any attempt by the grand-old party to reclaim political space is resisted by these state parties leading to friction. This conflict is at the root of the Congress’s troubled alliances with regional parties It is in this context that the party’s decision to go solo in West Bengal should be analysed. Voiceless Congress in state assembly for last 5 years has nothing to lose. If the leadership can encourage party cadres to make a fresh start on the ground, Bengal can serve as a template for the Congress in other states where it faces similar challenges. One wonders what has prevented the Congress leadership from correcting this course after the 2021 election defeat or even the 2024 Lok Sabha debacle. Well, better late than never!