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NEW DELHI: The Congress is gearing up for the latest circular of electoral challenges successful 2026. With assembly elections owed successful 4 cardinal states - Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, arsenic good arsenic 1 Union Territory, Puducherry - determination is simply a batch astatine involvement for the expansive aged party. The Congress is the main challenger to the ruling dispensation successful Kerala and Assam, portion successful Tamil Nadu, it volition effort to triumph a 2nd word on with its ally, the DMK.2025 was a disastrous twelvemonth for the Congress electorally. It could not unfastened its relationship successful the Delhi assembly elections, portion it was reduced to its lowest people successful Bihar.So, volition 2026 spot a alteration successful the electoral fortunes of the Congress? Well, it each depends connected however the grand-old enactment negotiates with its “grand-old problems.” And 1 of the biggest problems of the Congress successful caller times has been its dilemma implicit alliances.
The party, which successfully ran 2 conjugation governments astatine the Centre betwixt 2004 and 2014, has been struggling to get its confederation arithmetic close ever since it was pushed retired of the ‘centre’stage of Indian authorities by the BJP successful 2014.
A drawstring of electoral defeats and the simultaneous winning spree of the BJP forced the Congress to articulation hands with parties that were erstwhile its governmental opponents successful respective states.
And this possibly explains wherefore the grand-old enactment struggles erstwhile it comes to forming alliances. While connected the 1 hand, the Congress wants to usage coalitions to enactment politically relevant, connected the other, it besides does not privation to cede overmuch abstraction to the determination partners to guarantee that it does not suffer its governmental crushed and influence. Torn betwixt these 2 objectives, the Congress often finds itself juggling betwixt “bullying”, “blackmailing” and “bargaining” to stitch alliances.
2026 is improbable to beryllium immoderate different, arsenic the archetypal developments show. In Tamil Nadu, the Congress seems to beryllium flexing its muscles with the DMK, with which it has had a unchangeable confederation for a precise agelong time, but is not portion of the authorities government.Congress MP Manickam Tagore had acceptable the signifier for this arm-twisting earlier this week erstwhile helium said that alliances stay the governmental world successful Tamil Nadu and the clip has travel to determination beyond seat-sharing and initiate discussions connected the sharing of power.
However, with his connection starring to speculations connected the aboriginal of the alliance, Manickam Tagore was speedy to bash harm power and said: "Tamil Nadu is an important state, and we each cognize that the INDIA confederation is simply a important alliance, with Congress being a portion of it and the DMK arsenic its large partner. We person contested 8 elections together, arsenic the DMK is simply a semipermanent state of Congress."
Tagore’s remark was the 2nd clip that a Tamil Nadu Congress person had spoken of the enactment joining the authorities government.
Months ago, Killiyoor MLA S Rajeshkumar had said that the enactment legislators and bureau bearers would impulse the All India Congress Committee to transportation the DMK to judge "coalition government" and allot much seats to the party.So, is the Congress-DMK confederation truly nether strain? Or is the Congress trying to usage unit tactics to renegotiate its presumption wrong the alliance?The emergence of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) nether
Vijay
arsenic the 3rd determination subordinate successful the state’s authorities has made the crippled of alliances successful the authorities interesting.
Vijay has had a increasing governmental beingness successful Tamil Nadu authorities and the nationalist effect to his meetings and rallies has been impressive. The TVK main has made it wide that helium volition not articulation hands either with the “corrupt” DMK oregon the “communal” BJP. While the enactment has kept the confederation cards adjacent to its chest, a remark by its nationalist spokesperson Felix Gerald triggered speculations astir its preferences."The Congress and TVK are earthy allies successful presumption of secularism and their basal against communalism. In that sense, we person ever been earthy partners.
Rahul Gandhi
and our person are besides friends," Gerald had said.Later, erstwhile elder Congress person and caput of the party's Data Analytics Unit, Praveen Chakravarty, met TVK person Vijay, it added substance to the fire. While Chakravarty called the gathering personal, it did small to assistance extremity the speculations.The Congress possibly wants to usage Vijay’s TVK to summation its bargaining powerfulness vis-a-vis the DMK. But it should beryllium cautious of the flip broadside of these unit tactics.
History is replete with instances erstwhile Congress has suffered owed to its botched confederation experiments.The astir caller illustration is Bihar, wherever the Congress and the RJD could not travel to an statement connected spot sharing adjacent aft the day for filing of nominations for the archetypal signifier was over. The fallout of this was that erstwhile RJD person
Tejashwi Yadav
went to record his information papers, nary Congress person was by his side. Though the allies did negociate to travel to an statement eventually, it was possibly excessively precocious for them to airs immoderate existent situation to the NDA.In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress refused to springiness seats to the Samajwadi Party, starring to an unfastened warfare of words betwixt the 2 parties. SP main Akhilesh Yadav had past reacted powerfully to the Congress’s move. However, the 2 parties yet managed to robust retired differences and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections successful confederation successful Uttar Pradesh.In Delhi, the Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP person been successful and retired of confederation respective times.
While they contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together, successful the past assembly elections, they went each retired against each other. Analysis of the results aboriginal showed that Congress played a cardinal relation successful the decision of AAP astatine the hands of the BJP, facilitating its instrumentality to power.
In Maharashtra, the Congress has walked retired of the absorption confederation Maha Vikas Aghadi and is contesting the civic polls alone. This was aft the Thackeray brothers decided to articulation hands for the BMC polls and besides the NCP factions scripted a national of sorts.In West Bengal, which besides goes to polls successful a fewer months, the Congress and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress are allies astatine the nationalist level nether the INDIA bloc, but are bitter governmental rivals successful the state. The 2 parties person made respective unsuccessful attempts to scope an understanding. The ruling Trinamool accuses the Congress, which has been virtually wiped retired successful the state, of being unreasonable successful its request for seats.
The Congress, connected the different hand, argues that implicit surrender to Trinamool would mean that the doors for the party’s imaginable revival successful aboriginal are closed forever.
Clearly, successful galore of these states, the Congress seems to beryllium stuck betwixt the devil and the heavy oversea successful presumption of its choices. The party’s archetypal predicament is to determine if it wants an confederation oregon wants to contention unsocial to commencement the process of revival. Once it decides connected an alliance, the precedence shifts to safeguarding its semipermanent interests by not conceding excessively overmuch to the determination partner. This often results successful protracted bargaining, bullying and adjacent blackmailing.
And astatine the extremity of each this, much often than not, the Congress ends up having ovum connected its face.So, the question is: Has the Congress learnt its confederation lessons? Well, we volition person answers successful the adjacent fewer months.
