The Indian National Congress has announced its decision to contest all 294 seats in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections independently. This announcement, made on Thursday, comes after a meeting of top party leaders and West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WPCC) representatives. The West Bengal Assembly elections are expected to be held in April-May.
Ghulam Ahmad Mir, West Bengal Congress in-charge, told reporters that the party leaders extensively deliberated on the way forward and reached a consensus on contesting independently. According to Mir, the decision has the backing of the party's central leadership. "A meeting was held today in which all leaders were present. Discussions were held on how to approach the West Bengal elections and how to move forward. Everyone expressed their views, and after hearing all opinions, the leadership felt that this time the Congress will contest the elections in West Bengal on its own,” Mir said.
The decision to go solo in the West Bengal Assembly polls was further solidified after a key internal meeting, where Rahul Gandhi directly questioned the West Bengal in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir and state Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Subhankar Sarkar about any outreach from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for alliance talks. After Mir and Sarkar responded in the negative, Rahul Gandhi responded, "Then what are you waiting for?" This remark was interpreted by party leaders as a clear indication to proceed with an independent strategy without waiting for seat-sharing discussions with the TMC.
Several leaders have expressed that past alliances have demotivated grassroots workers. Some leaders at the meeting also voiced dissatisfaction with past alliances, particularly with the Left parties, alleging that while the Left often benefits from Congress resources during elections, they fail to transfer votes to Congress candidates.
In the 2016 Assembly polls, Congress contested 92 seats in alliance with the Left, winning 44 seats with a 12.25% vote share. However, in 2021, the party drew a blank and its vote share plummeted to 3%. Sudip Roy Barman, Congress observer for the Bengal polls, admitted that the party's alliance with the Left did not yield positive results. By contesting independently, the Congress hopes to revive its grassroots network in the state.
KC Venugopal, Congress general secretary (Organisation), mentioned in a social media post that a meeting with senior leaders from the West Bengal Congress was held under the leadership of INC President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to assess preparations for the upcoming assembly elections.