The loss of influence – the major floundering in 2021 and the long-term strategy – is what prompted the Congress to go it alone in West Bengal after two decades of shifting alliances with the Trinamool Congress and the Left parties.
This decision comes despite the fact that the Congress Party, which entered into an alliance with the TMC in 2011 and the Left parties in the last elections, performed poorly in the last elections.
The Congress, which was the main rival of the Left government and later the TMC, for majority in the last four decades, is now out of the top race, paving the way for the TMC’s fight against the BJP in the last elections.
A striking example of the party’s poor performance is the 2021 elections, where the party was unable to win even a single seat in the 294-member assembly, as did its ally the leftist parties in another record number in state politics.
Reasons for working alone: Small allies, few results
The main reason for going solo stems from the party’s declining voter base in the last elections: gaining zero seats in 2021, down from 44 seats in 2016. The party was the PKK’s main rival. Mamata government that year, a position now taken over by the BJP.
The party’s share of the vote in 2021 polls also fell to an all-time low of 3 percent.
Alliances with left-wing parties in 2016 and 2021 failed to produce results, partly due to the growing unpopularity of the left. The Congress Party also lost control of Malda and Murshidabad districts, which are considered to have traditional support for the party.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s rating has consistently risen over the past elections, winning three seats in 2016 and 77 in 2021, and has emerged as a major contender since 2021.
Read also: BJP releases third list of 19 candidates from Bengal, mother of victim RG Kar among the contestants
The party’s attempt to regain territory
After the combined failure of the Left and Congress parties to win even a single seat, the party decided to go it alone in an attempt to recover, if not to regain its lost foundations.
In February, even before Congress formally announced its plan to go it alone in the state, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) president Subhankar Sarkar has announced that he wants the party to contest alone in the upcoming elections. This view was also echoed among the majority of party leaders.
Ghulam Ahmed Mir, the party’s in-charge of West Bengal, said, “Our previous experiences with alliance or seat-sharing arrangements in West Bengal have weakened the party workers at the grassroots level in the state to a great extent. After discussions with everyone, including the state Congress leaders, it was decided that the Congress will contest from all 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal independently. Election preparations will begin with this in mind.”
The only exception to the consensus view was former state president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who was keen to ally with the Left Front led by the Communist Party of India.
Read also: Mamata is leading the TMC campaign and relies on aides for campaigning in her constituency
What to expect in Bengal?
The upcoming elections will be a very dangerous competition for the party TMC is looking to repeat its success in 2021 despite the many odds against the party, and the BJP aims to continue the momentum it built in the last elections.
For Congress, the immediate target would be to secure third place with at least single-digit, if not double-digit, seats.
The party is also looking to increase its vote share, which is at a worryingly low level, from 12.4 per cent in 2016 to 5.7 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 3 per cent in the 2021 state elections and 4.7 per cent in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
