State Congress president Subhankar Sarkar on Tuesday tactically avoided giving a direct answer when asked about the party’s probable ally for the upcoming state Assembly elections, hinting that options were open for a tie-up with either the Trinamool Congress or the Left Front.
Sarkar, who was in Malda, once a Congress bastion but in recent years dominated by the Trinamool and the BJP, attended a series of events organised by the district Congress committee.
When asked whether the Congress would join hands with Trinamool or Left Front in the next Assembly polls, Sarkar chose a metaphorical reply.
"The election is still away. Let us walk on our own feet first and test our strength. While walking, if someone joins our journey, we will walk together. But we cannot walk steadily if our own limbs are weak. The feet of our friend should also be strong enough to walk at the same pace,” Sarkar said.
Political observers said the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief deliberately avoided revealing his preference, as the question of alliance remains one of the most sensitive topics within the party.
In 2016, the Congress-Left Front alliance performed strongly in Malda, the Congress won eight out of 12 assembly seats, the CPM two, and Left-supported independents one. The BJP won the remaining seat.
However, the political landscape shifted rapidly after 2018, when the Trinamool Congress for the first time won the Malda Zilla Parishad on its own, while the BJP emerged as the principal opposition.
In 2019, Congress lost one of its two parliamentary seats in the district to the BJP. By the 2021 Assembly elections, the Congress suffered a complete debacle, losing all seats in its bastion, while the Trinamool won eight and the BJP four.
A senior Congress leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party is under pressure to remain politically relevant.
"Now that the BJP has grown much stronger than any other opposition force in Bengal, the challenge before the Congress is to retain its political identity. Although many state Congress leaders are vocal critics of the Trinamool, the AICC might still consider aligning with it to revive the party’s electoral fortunes,” the veteran leader said.
The CPM, however, cautioned the Congress against such a move.
"We had seat adjustments with the Congress in the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections and in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Results were mixed. But the Trinamool has been branded as the most corrupt and autocratic party in Bengal. The people are ready to oust it. Any party that walks with Trinamool must also share the burden of its unforgivable sins,” said Ambar Mitra, a state committee member of the CPM.
During his Malda visit, Sarkar paid floral tributes at the tomb of former Congress heavyweight A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury at Kotowali Bhawan in Englishbazar in the morning. Later, he met the family members of Narendranath Saha, a Congress leader from Harishchandrapur, who was allegedly run over and killed by another party worker after a dispute. Sarkar demanded a custody trial for Bipad Pramanik, the accused Congress leader.
He also held a meeting with senior district Congress leaders, including MP Isha Khan Choudhury.