Solo act or silent understanding? Congress and the Left in Bengal | India News
D Congress And the Left is all set to contest the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections independently after the Congress ended its alliance earlier this month. The move has sparked fresh speculation in a state where politics is dominated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and its arch-rival BJP.Also Read | Congress’s Bengal dilemma: Who should the grand-old party target in 2026 elections – BJP or Mamata Banerjee?The decision marks another turning point for the two once dominant powers who now find themselves struggling for relevance in Bengal’s increasingly bipartisan political landscape. What prompted the Congress to go it alone and what does the split mean for both the party and its current allies?
Congress counts
Congress’ decision to go it alone has raised eyebrows as the party’s footprint in West Bengal shrinks. Explaining the rationale, a West Bengal unit leader said the central leadership believes the party has nothing to lose by contesting individually.
The central leadership feels that the party has nothing to lose and so we should fight on our own
A senior leader of West Bengal Congress
At the same time, the leader admitted that the contest will now be dominated by TMC and BJP.“With the breakdown of our understanding with the Left, there is effectively no room left for a third pole in Bengal politics,” the leader told news agency PTI, requesting anonymity.
This election will now be fought almost entirely on the TMC-versus-BJP axis
West Bengal Congress leader
With no room for alliances, the Congress plans to focus on consolidating its vote share rather than relying on alliance arithmetic.
Decline of Congress in Bengal
Political observers have also pointed to the contrast between the party’s current state leadership and its previous leadership. They say the relatively conciliatory approach of the incumbent Chief Subhankar government has made it easier for the central leadership to end the Left alliance. The previous chief, former Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, was a known Mamata Banerjee critic and put aside differences with the Left in an effort to unseat a common opponent.
The Left’s Response — And Its Alternatives
After a few days of silence, the Left responded to the Congress through CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby, a senior leader of the bloc.Also Read | ‘Congress will suffer’: CPM’s MA Baby on grand old party’s decision to contest Bengal polls alone“Congress is adopting a communal approach in West Bengal. We can cooperate with them only if they understand the importance of joining hands with secular, democratic and progressive forces,” Baby said in Kolkata on February 13.
MA Baby in Congress
He added that in the struggle against “communal forces”, particularly the BJP, the Left favors alliances with like-minded parties, including the Congress, wherever possible.Some left leaders say the bloc now wants to formalize all political systems — both formal and informal. They added that this would give the grouping time to consider candidate selection with the coalition before finalizing the list.Can there be such an understanding with the Congress?
Will the exit of Congress affect the left block?
Congress’s absence from any potential Left-led coalition could limit, if not significantly erode, the bloc’s electoral influence. Political analysts say this is because the split could lead to vote splitting, which would mostly benefit the TMC. As such, some form of ground-level understanding between them cannot be ruled out.At the same time, the Left and the Congress are direct rivals in Kerala, which is due to go to polls at the same time as West Bengal. The Left won a second consecutive term in Kerala in 2021, breaking the long-standing pattern of power between the Left and the Congress every five years. After a decade of Left rule likely to be anti-incumbency, the Congress believes it has a realistic chance of regaining power.In that context, contesting West Bengal separately allows both parties to avoid uncomfortable questions about Kerala. Yet a tacit understanding of Bengal would indicate that despite intense political attacks against each other, there is no irreparable strain in their larger political relationship.
Congress and the Left: How arch-rivals became political allies
The old adage says that politics makes strange bedfellows, often uniting rival forces against a common enemy that can be tackled alone. For the Congress and the Left in West Bengal, that opponent was Mamata Banerjee.The rise of Banerjee and the TMC pushed two once dominant political forces to the fringes of Bengal politics. Since the fall of the Left in 2011, the Trinamool has not only retained power but expanded its dominance, crossing 200 seats in successive assembly elections.
TMC vs Left in Bengal
This meant that the Congress and the Left had no choice but to join hands, only to soon face a relatively new but rapidly expanding rival in the BJP.In 2019, with the Modi wave sweeping the country for a second consecutive general election, the BJP increased from two in 2014 to 18 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, reducing the TMC’s tally from 34 to 22. In the 2021 assembly elections, the BJP strengthened its role and won 7-7. seats in the 294-member state assembly, a sharp jump from just three in 2016, though several of its legislators later defected to the ruling camp.
BJP’s increase in seats in Bengal
With the two major players firmly entrenched, the Congress and the Left became marginal players in a contest they once dominated.
Congress-Left alliance: What the numbers say
This is not their first incident of breaking the current Congress-Left alliance in West Bengal. They went their separate ways in March 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. They came together again in December 2020, months before the assembly elections in the state in March-April 2021, and have now split again.The Congress last contested the West Bengal Assembly elections as an independent in 2006, winning 21 seats. In 2011, it doubled its tally to 42 when it fought in alliance with the TMC.The Congress and the Left joined forces as formal alliance partners for the first time in the 2016 assembly elections. The Congress again delivered an impressive performance, winning 44 seats, while its Left alliances accounted for the remaining 33 seats won by the Bloc.In 2021, the Indian Secular Front (ISF) secured the lone Left Front seat. The Congress later opened its account by winning a by-election, taking the alliance’s tally to two seats.Taken together, the numbers show that the Congress-Left alliance has struggled to translate the collaboration into meaningful electoral gains, except to some extent in 2016.
Double-edged sword?
Congress’s decision to contest West Bengal alone is a bold but risky strategy. Although the chances of finishing second are slim, the party can aim to establish itself as the third major political force in the state. This may not translate into many seats, but it may be reflected in his overall vote share. On the other hand, there is a real risk of pushing further into the margins.The polls that will decide the future of both the Congress and the Left Front in West Bengal are fast approaching. These former dominant parties face a critical test of their relevance, voter base and even their ability to regain a portion of their past influence. The coming weeks will reveal whether they can mount a revival or continue their slide toward the fringes of state politics.
