Congress's 'solo' gamble in West Bengal: Why decision to dump Left may be right

NEW DELHI: Is the Congress decision to go solo in West Bengal a bold political move with the party’s long-term gains in mind? Or is it a move fraught with political risks in a state where the grand-old party has been literally wiped out from the ground? The Congress, which faces an existential crisis in the state, has broken its alliance with the Left and announced to go solo in all 294 seats in the upcoming assembly elections.

Now, consider these facts:

• In the 2021 assembly elections, the Congress could not win even one seat in the 294-member assembly
• The Congress vote share in 2021 assembly elections plummeted to 3.03% - the lowest ever in the state
• In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress won just one seat.

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





Interestingly, while the Congress and the Left went all guns blazing against Mamata, the relentless BJP gained ground and captured the opposition space. The story of the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal was the rise of the BJP as main opposition party and the simultaneous decimation of the Congress and the Left in state politics.

So, while the Congress tally in assembly went down from 44 in 2016 to 0 in 2021, the BJP’s score increased from 3 in 2016 to 77 in 2021. In terms of vote share, the pattern was all the more worrying. Congress went down from 12.25% to 3.03% while the BJP jumped from 10.16% to 37.97%.



The Congress’s decision to contest solo may signal the party’s resolve to take the long and difficult path of revival, but it perhaps ignores the grim ground reality of the party’s diminishing presence and influence in West Bengal. Does the party have enough time to make its presence felt among the electorate? More so, when its main rivals - the Trinamool Congress and the BJP have already taken giant strides on the ground to woo the voters.



Mamata goes all out for fourth term

Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool have unleashed an all-out offensive against the Election Commission … from the streets of Kolkata to the Supreme Court in the national capital. Mamata has also announced many welfare-driven measures in her interim budget to set the electoral narrative ahead of the high-stakes polls.

Some of the key announcements include:

• Rs 500 monthly increase in the 'Lakshmir Bhandar' scheme for women
• Proposal for a new portal to extend social security benefits to gig workers
• State government to launch a scheme -- 'Banglar Yuva Sathi' -- to provide Rs 1,500 monthly allowance to unemployed people in the 21-40 years age group till they get jobs or for a period of up to five years. The scheme will be launched from April
• Allowances for Anganwadi workers and helpers raised by Rs 1,000 each
• ASHA workers will get an additional Rs 1,000 per month
• Rs 1,000 monthly pay hike for civic volunteers and Green Police personnel
• Four per cent hike in dearness allowance for govt employees

BJP in overdrive

The BJP is also in an overdrive as it makes yet another attempt to wrest power from the Trinamool Congress. Top BJP leaders, both in Bengal and in Delhi, have been relentless in their attacks against Mamata Banerjee linking almost every incident in the state to the failure of the Trinamool government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah have already addressed many political rallies in the poll-bound state. BJP chief Nitin Nabin has been holding meetings with all stakeholders to energise the party cadres.

Here’s a look at some of the key moves which the BJP has already made:

• Appointed assembly in-charges for all 294 seats
• Announced in-charges for key seats like Nandigram, Siliguri, Darjeeling, Malda, Asansol Dakshin, Asansol Uttar, Kolkata Port
• Formed State Sankalp Patra Committee comprising 11 members

Congress missing from action

In the midst of all these political buzz, the Congress, unfortunately, has been missing from action till now. The Congress leadership seems to have done little on the ground after the past electoral drubbings except effecting a leadership change in the state. Shubhankar Sarkar replaced Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as the West Bengal Congress chief in September 2024.

Since Adhir was a staunch critic of Mamata Banerjee and was the biggest hurdle in any possible alliance with the Trinamool, the change of guard was construed as a shift in the party’s approach vis-a-vis the Trinamool chief. However, once it was clear that Mamata was not interested in any tie-up, the Congress had no option but to go solo in the assembly polls. 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.

Shubhankar Sarkar after taking charge had stated that the 2026 assembly elections and strengthening the organisation were two of his immediate missions. However, just months away from the 2026 electoral battle, he seems to be still far away from achieving either of them.

Is ‘solo’ the best way forward?

Over the years, the Congress has lost its political ground to regional parties across states. Many of the regional parties have grown in the states at the expense of the Congress. Any attempt by the grand-old party to regain its political space is resisted by these state parties leading to friction. This contradiction has been at the core of the alliance trouble which the Congress has had with the regional parties. It is in this context that the party’s decision to go solo in West Bengal should be analyzed. The Congress, which has been voiceless in the state assembly for the last 5 years, has nothing to lose. If the leadership can energise party cadres to make a new beginning on the ground, Bengal could serve as a template for the Congress in other states where it faces similar challenges. One wonders what prevented the Congress leadership from taking this course correction after the 2021 elections drubbing or even after the 2024 Lok Sabha fiasco. Well, better late than never!
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