The Congress has no base in West Bengal and the TMC will not try to strengthen the opposition alliance at its own cost, leaders from the Mamata Banerjee-led party said on Tuesday (February 11, 2025) after she declared it will go solo in the 2026 Assembly polls. On Monday, Ms. Banerjee told party lawmakers at a meeting in Kolkata that the Trinamool Congress would fight alone in the 2026 Assembly elections in the State, dismissing any possibility of forging a coalition with the Congress or any other party. She also expressed confidence about winning the elections with a two-third majority.
Asked about the TMC chief’s decision, Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha member Kirti Azad used a Hindi phrase for the Congress — “Rassi jal gayi, par bal nahi gaya (the rope has burnt, but the knots remain)“.
Launching a scathing attack at the Congress, Mr. Azad blamed it for the AAP’s defeat in Delhi, and accused it of “backstabbing” allies.
He also said the Congress has no right to be in the INDIA bloc.
“The biggest problem with the Congress is that it does not have any base. If it had fought with the AAP in Delhi, they could have formed a government together. But it impacted the results in 14 seats and AAP lost,” Mr. Azad said.
“Congress is a sinking boat, it is unable to understand that when the BJP was nothing, it came to power in states with others… It is a different matter that it backstabbed them. But the Congress is already drowning, yet it is backstabbing its own alliance partners,” he said.
“It has so much arrogance, the way it is behaving with its own alliance partners, it has no right to stay in the alliance. You formed the INDIA bloc to remove the BJP, and people are saying that Mamata Banerjee should head the alliance,” he added. Lok Sabha member from Dum Dum Sougata Roy said the TMC cannot strengthen the alliance at its own cost.
“Mamata is the supremo of our party, what she says is the view of the party. She has proved in the past that TMC alone is strong enough to fight the BJP. We won 29 out of the 42 seats in Lok Sabha, and will improve it further next time. We cannot strengthen the opposition alliance at our own cost,” he said. Samajwadi Party’s Rajya Sabha member Ram Gopal Yadav also backed Ms. Banerjee, saying, “This goes on in politics. It’s true… Trinamool will finish whatever is left of BJP in Bengal.”
Congress leader Ujjwal Raman Singh, however, said while all parties have the right to decide for themselves, any decision on the future course of action will be taken by the INDIA bloc leadership. “Every party has the right to decide for itself. INDIA alliance was in a national context, the leadership will decide the future policy. Everything is good in the INDIA alliance, it was formed for the Lok Sabha election to oppose the BJP and present an alternative. Discussions on states will be held separately,” he said.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Rajya Sabha member Mahua Maji meanwhile said equations keep changing in politics, and the situation may change ahead of elections. “Every political party wants to be stronger. Equations change some times, and the final equation emerges ahead of the election. It is not necessary that the situation will be the same later,” she said. “Political parties work together, last time the BJP had said it is enough for everyone on its own, but when the INDIA bloc was formed, they got parties which did not even have an MLA or MP to form an alliance. There is much time left in elections, the equations may change,” she said. Ms. Maji also said the JMM-Congress-RJD government in Jharkhand is strong.
Republican Party of India (A) leader and Union minister Ramdas Athawale said Ms. Banerjee is right in going solo, but claimed the BJP would come to power in the State next year. “Mamata Banerjee’s party is strong in West Bengal, and the second one is BJP. BJP may come to power in the next assembly election,” he said. “What Mamata said is right because Congress has nothing there, all parties are leaving Congress,” he added. BJP Rajya Sabha member Lahar Singh Siroya also lauded Banerjee as the “tallest opposition leader”. “Mamata ji should always fight separately, joining the INDIA alliance is a mistake. She is the tallest leader in the opposition, she has won in West Bengal four times. If Congress would have accepted her as a leader and not forced her to quit the party, they would have been in power,” he said.
“The INDIA bloc is finished. Stalin and three people from the family are all that is left. I believe DMK will also understand, leave the family and do their own independent politics,” he said.
The Trinamool Congress had fought solo in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha elections last year as well even as it remained a part of the INDIA bloc, while the Congress and Left parties fought as an alliance.
Ms. Banerjee had earlier suggested that she could lead the INDIA bloc, and manage the dual responsibility of running the opposition front while continuing her role as the chief minister of West Bengal.
She was backed by several senior Opposition leaders including RJD chief Lalu Prasad and NCP (SP) boss Sharad Pawar, among others.
The TMC, SP, NCP (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT) had backed the AAP in the Delhi assembly polls. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had also campaigned for the former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, while the TMC had deputed party MP Shatrughan Sinha for campaigning for the AAP.
Published – February 11, 2025 05:26 pm IST
