New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said Thursday that his party is prepared to contest the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections alone if Congress is unwilling to explore seat-sharing, effectively placing the responsibility on the largest partner in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to break ranks with the Left to consider a potential tie-up.
The Lok Sabha MP made the remarks while speaking to reporters at an event in his Diamond Harbour constituency in West Bengal.
Since 2016, the Left and the Congress have fought two assembly elections and one Lok Sabha election together in West Bengal, without much success. During this period, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the principal challenger of the TMC in the state, leaving the Left and the Congress struggling to maintain relevance.
“In Bengal, we have said categorically in the past that we continue to be a part of the INDIA alliance for the larger and bigger interest,” Abhishek told reporters. “But if the Congress does not want to explore any seat sharing formula, then we will go ahead and fight the polls on our own might and terms. We have fought polls alone in the past too.”
On 11 February, the TMC’s mouthpiece Jago Bangla reported that, during the party’s internal meeting held the day before, party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had ruled out the possibility of fighting the 2026 assembly polls as party of any alliance. “Trinamool will return to power with a two-third majority in 2026. We do not need anyone’s help. We will fight alone and win alone,” Mamata reportedly said.
The TMC fought the 2011 West Bengal assembly polls in an alliance with the Congress, dislodging the Left Front from power after 34 years. However, the alliance fell apart by 2016, when the Congress tied up with the Left for the first time, winning 26 and 44 seats respectively in the 294-member state assembly, which the TMC swept, winning 211 seats.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress and the Left did not contest together, winning two and zero seats respectively. Two years later, in the assembly polls, they had a seat-sharing pact again, only to draw a blank. Still, the alliance fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together as well, only to be handed a drubbing again, with the Congress managing to score one seat, and the Left zero.
The statements from the TMC leaders come amid rumblings within the INDIA bloc following the Aam Aadmi Party’s defeat in the Delhi assembly election on 5 February. The results, declared on 8 February, showed that the Congress potentially split anti-BJP votes in as many as 13 seats in the national capital, leading to the loss of the AAP candidates.
However, Abhishek said that an alliance between the AAP and the Congress would not have made much of a difference in the results. The TMC had deputed its Lok Sabha MP actor Shatrughan Sinha to campaign for the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP.
Abhishek attributed the AAP’s defeat to its “inability” to convince voters in Delhi that the BJP-led Centre had made it difficult for the elected government to deliver public services through constant roadblocks.
“The elected government was not allowed to work. An ordinance was promulgated that curtailed the powers of the elected government. The AAP should have explained this to the people.” Abhishek said.
“When similar attempts were made in Bengal, we released a white paper to convey the facts. They (AAP) could not do it. Even the CM was jailed. How does one work with their hands tied?”
He also alleged irregularities in the preparation of electoral rolls in Delhi, suggesting that it could have contributed to the BJP’s victory as well. Another INDIA bloc partner, Shiv Sena (UBT), also levelled similar allegations during the day after the party’s leader Aditya Thackeray met Kejriwal at the latter’s residence in Delhi.
“Governments keep coming and going but relationships continue. We met Kejriwal as a gesture of friendship. However, our democracy is not free and fair. Elections are not free and fair,” Thackeray said after the meeting.
On Tuesday, the Shiv Sena scion also met Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who has been alleging large scale manipulation of voters’ list during the Maharashtra assembly polls held in 2024.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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