Kolkata, January 14 (IANS). Most of the district leadership of Congress in West Bengal is against any seat sharing arrangement with any party for the 2026 assembly elections in the state. This information was given by Congress party insiders on Wednesday.
According to sources, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) had recently sought opinions from the district leadership on the issue of alliances and seat-sharing, and most of them suggested that the party should contest the next assembly elections alone, regardless of the outcome, instead of relying on allies to gain some seats.
The district leadership was specifically asked about possible seat sharing with the CPI(M)-led Left Front, Trinamool Congress, All India Secular Front (AISF) and the Janata Unnayan Party formed by suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir.
Party insiders said only leaders from the two districts were in favor of continuing the arrangement with the CPI(M)-led Left Front that began in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections and continued till the Lok Sabha elections.
However, according to party sources, no district leader expressed support for any kind of agreement with TMC for the upcoming assembly elections.
However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee have already refused any kind of agreement with Congress.
On the other hand, despite objections from some other constituents of the Left Front, the CPI(M) leadership in West Bengal has kept the option of a seat-sharing agreement with the Congress open.
A WBPCC insider said, “The final decision on any seat-sharing arrangement will be taken by the party high command or the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The state leadership has received feedback only at the district level. The WBPCC will now brief the AICC on the same.”
Political analysts say that the arrangement for smooth seat distribution for the 2026 assembly elections was looking difficult from the beginning.
A political analyst said, “The two main architects of the Left Front-Congress pact since 2016 were former CPI(M) general secretary late Sitaram Yechury and former West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. After Yechury’s demise, there is no national leader in the CPI(M) central leadership who can effectively push for such an agreement internally. In the Congress too, after Chowdhury stepped down from the key decision-making role, The situation has changed.”
–IANS
ASH/DKP