Congress, CPI(M) resist closeness to Mamata's TMC in Bengal

State leaders of the Congress and the CPI(M) in West Bengal are averse to any overt proximity to Mamata Banerjee's TMC faction in fighting the ruling BJP, despite her repeated outreach. Mamata spoke by phone to Rahul Gandhi and CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, and is likely to attend the I.N.D.I.A. bloc meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. CPI(M) leaders said national unity does not extend to the state, where they must fight both the BJP and the TMC.

Written by AI from TMC (Mamata Banerjee) · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 28 Sept 2026, 3:54 am IST

Source

TMC (Mamata Banerjee) · read the original report ↗

#west bengal#tmc#congress#cpim#opposition alliance#bjp

Desk check · compared with the source

What the desk checked (5)

Mamata Banerjee is likely to join the I.N.D.I.A. bloc meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday — Stated in source as likely, no official confirmation cited
CPI(M) national leadership contacted TMC over protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, but rules out alliance — Attributed to state secretary Mohammed Salim with direct quote
CPI(M) won a single seat in the 294-member assembly this year after being reduced to zero earlier — Figures appear in source; no data source named
Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was arrested in 19-year-old cases hours after Mamata backed him for the October 6 Nandigram bypoll — Reported in source without police attribution
Suvendu Adhikari, now West Bengal chief minister, accused Mamata of political opportunism — Attributed with direct quotes from Sunday remarks

Written by AI from TMC (Mamata Banerjee) · not yet reviewed by an editor · How we use AI · Report an error

Analysts’ view opinion

AI Political Analyst

A joint national campaign against the BJP and the Election Commission is one thing; sharing votes and space in West Bengal is quite another — and the state leaders of the Congress and the CPI(M) are drawing that line sharply. With the TMC weakened by electoral defeat and a split, the CPI(M) sees the opposition space opening up for itself, and tying up with a diminished Mamata Banerjee would risk handing that space straight back to her. Hence the distance despite her outreach: this is less about ideology than about political real estate.

The CPI(M)'s formula is explicit — unity against the BJP nationally, but a fight against both the BJP and the TMC in the state, positioning itself as the alternative to a "communal" BJP and a "corrupt" TMC.
Reduced to zero seats and now holding a single legislator in the 294-member assembly, the CPI(M) reads the TMC's decline as its best chance to rebuild — an alliance could squeeze that room shut.
The Congress is speaking in two registers: contact at the Rahul Gandhi level, while state heavyweight Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says no signal has come from the national leadership.
Mamata's need is greater than her partners' — after defeat and a party split, staying central to the national opposition platform matters more to her than to them.
For the ruling BJP this is ready-made messaging, with Suvendu Adhikari framing her outreach to the Left as opportunism from a leader who built her career against the CPI(M).

What to watch — Watch whether Wednesday's I.N.D.I.A. bloc meeting in Delhi produces pressure from the national leaderships on their state units, and how the Congress handles Mamata's declared support for its candidate in the October 6 Nandigram bypoll.

The story records the stance of state leaders, not any formal decision by the Congress or CPI(M) national leaderships, and it does not establish that a Bengal understanding has been ruled out for good.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 8 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

West Bengal's politics has been upended: Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress suffered an electoral rout and a split, and a BJP government led by her former aide Suvendu Adhikari now runs the state. Mamata is reaching out to the Congress and the CPI(M), including phone calls to Rahul Gandhi and CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, and is likely to attend an I.N.D.I.A. bloc meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. But the state units of both parties resist any visible tie-up, arguing that opposition unity against the BJP at the national level does not translate into an alliance in Bengal. The immediate trigger for the national campaign is the opposition's charge that the Election Commission, and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, disenfranchised voters through the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Key facts

Mamata Banerjee spoke by phone to Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and to CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby; she is likely to attend the I.N.D.I.A. bloc meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The CPI(M) led the Left Front government in West Bengal for 34 years before the TMC came to power in 2011.
The CPI(M) had been reduced to zero seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly and returned with a single legislator this year.
Suvendu Adhikari, once Mamata's aide, is now Chief Minister of West Bengal's BJP government and accused her of political opportunism on Sunday.
Mamata announced support for Milan Pradhan, the Congress candidate for the October 6 Nandigram bypoll, after her faction's candidate withdrew; Milan was arrested hours later in 19-year-old cases.
CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim said outreach to parties including the TMC against CEC Gyanesh Kumar does not mean any alliance or electoral understanding with the Mamata faction.
At a rally in Serampore, Hooghly, on Saturday, Mamata said her faction would support anyone fighting the BJP and the EC, and that there was no need to distinguish between red, blue and yellow.
Adhikari said the Congress had thrown Mamata out and that Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave her shelter in 1998.

Timeline

1998Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave Mamata Banerjee shelter after her exit from the Congress, according to Suvendu Adhikari.
Till 2011CPI(M)-led Left Front governed West Bengal for 34 years before the TMC's ascent to power.
Earlier this yearTMC suffered an electoral rout; Mamata blamed deletion of lakhs of voters during the EC's special revision; CPI(M) returned with a single MLA in the 294-member assembly.
Past few monthsTMC split; CPI(M) positioned itself as the most visible challenger to the BJP through protests on roadside evictions and saffron influence in educational institutions.
October 6Nandigram bypoll for which Mamata backed Congress candidate Milan Pradhan, who was arrested hours after her announcement.
SaturdayMamata at Serampore rally offered support to anyone fighting the BJP and the EC.
SundayCM Suvendu Adhikari attacked Mamata for political opportunism and ridiculed her outreach to the Left.
Wednesday (forthcoming)I.N.D.I.A. bloc meeting in New Delhi, which Mamata is likely to attend.

Who has a stake

Mamata Banerjee and her TMC faction — After a rout and a split, she needs allies; she is reaching out to the Congress and CPI(M) and offering support to anyone fighting the BJP and the EC.
CPI(M) West Bengal unit — Sees the TMC's weakening as a chance to rebuild; fears an alliance would surrender the opposition space it has regained from one seat in the assembly.
Congress in West Bengal — Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says no direction has come from the national leadership; the party wants to keep opposing both TMC and BJP misrule.
BJP government led by CM Suvendu Adhikari — Benefits from a divided opposition; attacks Mamata's outreach as opportunism and highlights the CPI(M)-TMC contradiction.
Election Commission and CEC Gyanesh Kumar — Accused by the opposition of disenfranchising voters through the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, with reported internal differences in the EC.
National opposition leadership (Rahul Gandhi, M A Baby) — Seeking a countrywide joint campaign against alleged manipulation of the EC, which requires including the TMC.

Why it matters

The story shows the limits of national opposition unity: alliances that make sense against the BJP in Delhi can be electorally self-defeating in states where the same parties are each other's main rivals. In Bengal, the CPI(M)'s revival depends on occupying the anti-BJP opposition space that an alliance with Mamata would hand back to the TMC. It also spotlights the opposition's larger charge that the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of rolls deleted voters to the BJP's advantage.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

West Bengal assembly strength: 294 seats; CPI(M) had been reduced to zero and won a single seat this year.
Left Front, led by the CPI(M), ruled West Bengal for 34 years until the TMC came to power in 2011.
I.N.D.I.A. bloc meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday; Mamata Banerjee likely to attend.
Chief Election Commissioner named in the story: Gyanesh Kumar; the disputed exercise is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Nandigram bypoll on October 6; Congress candidate Milan Pradhan backed by Mamata's TMC faction.
Key names: Mohammed Salim (CPI(M) state secretary), Sujan Chakraborty (CPI(M) central committee), Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (CWC member), M A Baby (CPI(M) general secretary).

Mains framing

The Bengal standoff illustrates the structural tension in India's coalition politics between national-level opposition consolidation and state-level rivalry. Nationally, the Congress and CPI(M) leaderships want a broad front, including the TMC, against what they allege is the BJP's manipulation of the Election Commission, a charge sharpened by reported differences within the EC over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and by Mamata's claim that lakhs of voters were deleted before her party's rout. At the state level, however, the CPI(M) — down from 34 years in power to a single MLA in the 294-member assembly — reads the TMC's rout and split as its own opening, and has built visibility through protests on roadside evictions and saffron influence in educational institutions; aligning with Mamata risks restoring the TMC as the principal opposition and blurring the CPI(M)'s claim to be the alternative to both a "communal" BJP and a "corrupt" TMC. The Congress's state unit, citing no instruction from above, takes a similar line, even as it accepted Mamata's support for its Nandigram bypoll candidate. The way forward suggested by the actors themselves is issue-based cooperation — a joint campaign on electoral integrity and institutional neutrality — without seat-sharing or an electoral understanding in the state, leaving open the question of whether a fragmented opposition can check the incumbent BJP government.

Key terms

I.N.D.I.A. bloc: Grouping of opposition parties, including the Congress and CPI(M), meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, which Mamata is likely to attend.
Special Intensive Revision (SIR): Electoral roll revision exercise by the Election Commission that the opposition alleges deleted lakhs of voters; reported internal EC differences over it.
Left Front: CPI(M)-led coalition that governed West Bengal for 34 years until the TMC's victory in 2011.
Congress Working Committee (CWC): Top decision-making body of the Congress; Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is a member and a Bengal heavyweight.
Chief Election Commissioner: Head of the Election Commission; incumbent Gyanesh Kumar is accused by the opposition of disenfranchising voters to help the BJP.
Nandigram: Constituency described as Mamata's political springboard to power, going to a bypoll on October 6.

Practice questions

Why does opposition unity at the national level often fail to translate into state-level alliances? Discuss with reference to the Congress, CPI(M) and TMC in West Bengal.
Examine the opposition's allegations regarding the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and their implications for public trust in the Election Commission.
The CPI(M) claims it must fight both the BJP and the TMC in West Bengal. Analyse the electoral logic and risks of such an equidistance strategy.

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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