No more seat-sharing: Why Congress high command chose to go solo in Bengal assembly elections

KOLKATA: Snapping its decade-old confederation ties with the Left Front, Congress connected Thursday decided to "go it alone" successful the 2026 Bengal assembly polls and combat successful each 294 seats, mounting the signifier for a four-cornered contest.Putting to remainder speculation implicit a seat-sharing statement with the Left Front and its smaller allies, AICC wide caput and Congress's Bengal in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir said: "We decided to locomotion unsocial and it was a corporate determination of the leadership. We volition contention successful each 294 seats. We entered into an confederation with the Left Front earlier but that did not boost the morale of enactment workers astatine the crushed level.

"

Pradesh Congress functionaries, portion maintaining that the enactment had gained sizeable spot successful astir 60 seats, near the determination to Adhir Chowdhury connected whether to contest.The gathering took spot astatine the authoritative residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge astatine 10, Rajaji Marg, New Delhi. During the session, the bulk of netas advocated for Congress to contention the elections alone. Some authorities netas were besides contacted implicit virtual gathering platforms.

"Electors successful Bengal and workers successful the authorities person the aspiration of warring unsocial this time," Mir said.This gathering with the enactment precocious bid implicit a imaginable seat-sharing was delayed doubly before.Kharge and Congress neta Rahul Gandhi met Bengal functionaries, including the party's Bengal president, Subhankar Sarkar, Adhir Chowdhury and Malda South MP Isha Khan Chowdhury.Pradesh Congress was already divided into 2 camps implicit seat-sharing with the Left Front.

While the Murshidabad unit, led by erstwhile PCC president Adhir, was successful favour of an alliance, the Malda portion spoke against immoderate probable seat-sharing formula.In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress secured leads successful 13 seats, mostly successful Malda and Murshidabad. It progressed successful presumption of ballot tally contempt inconsistencies implicit the alliance.At the meeting, Adhir highlighted the necessity of an confederation with the Left.

He pointed retired that by forming an confederation with the Left successful 2016, Congress had go the main absorption enactment successful the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Although some the Left Front and Congress were reduced to 0 seats successful the polarised 2021 elections, Congress managed to triumph the Sagardighi by-election with enactment of the Left.Pradesh Congress president Sarkar, who was successful favour of assessing the party's spot alone, said;, "The younker were successful favour of warring unsocial this time. The precocious bid kept their sentiment successful caput earlier coming to the decision."The Congress precocious command, a root said, besides took the equation betwixt the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front successful Kerala into consideration.