From 'ekla cholo' to handshake: Trinamool-Congress ties thaw ahead of Bengal polls

It is a relationship critical for the health of opposition unity in general and the INDIA bloc in particular. With less than a year to go for the state assembly elections in West Bengal, there appears to be a renewed thaw in relations between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Congress.

With 42 MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha combined, the TMC holds the numbers to sway and stands third on the opposition list with 29 Lok Sabha MPs, after the Congress and the Samajwadi Party.

On Thursday evening, as INDIA bloc parties converged at a dinner meeting called by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, it became clear that the Congress was reaching out for broader consensus for opposition unity, often considered fragile.

This marks a shift from last year, when the Congress's unilateral stance on major issues had irked Mamata Banerjee, leading the TMC supremo to signal the death of the INDIA bloc in Bengal and adopt the 'ekla cholo re' approach.

What followed was a phase of open antagonism, with the TMC leadership often critical of the Congress. That tension now appears to have eased.

Sources said TMC's second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee was among the last opposition leaders to leave Rahul Gandhi's residence on Thursday.

The two leaders spoke at length separately, with Banerjee briefing Gandhi about the TMC's opposition to the Election Commission's proposed Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-like exercise in Bengal.

Banerjee had also attended the INDIA bloc's virtual meeting convened by the Congress on July 19, despite a busy schedule just 48 hours before the TMC's "Shahid Divas" rally in Kolkata.

Much has changed since Abhishek Banerjee's early morning meeting with Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi in September 2013, which was seen as "failed".

Now, Abhishek is the newly appointed leader of the TMC in the Lok Sabha, replacing Kalyan Banerjee, while Rahul Gandhi is the Leader of Opposition. The Banerjee scion joins forces with Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to strengthen the opposition benches in the House.

The terms of the TMC-Congress relationship, earlier shaped by Sonia Gandhi's personal rapport with Mamata Banerjee, are now witnessing a generational shift, driven by the dynamics between Abhishek Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi.

Sources say both leaders take a "hands-on" approach and often speak over the phone for coordination. During the monsoon session, the TMC secured Congress support for its protest over disrespect to the Bangla language, with Tamil Nadu Congress MP Manickam Tagore seeking an adjournment motion to discuss the matter.

The Gandhis have also sought to placate Mamata Banerjee by removing Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a known Mamata critic, as the state PCC chief.

In his place, they appointed low-profile Subhankar Sarkar, who has refrained from personal attacks on the Bengal Chief Minister since assuming office last September. Chowdhury, a five-time MP, lost his Behrampore Lok Sabha seat to TMC candidate Yusuf Pathan.

Political observers in Bengal are watching closely as the top leadership of the two parties rebuilds ties ahead of next year's assembly elections. In 2011, Mamata Banerjee came to power toppling the three-decade-old Left regime with the Congress as a coalition partner.

Since then, the Congress has steadily declined in the state, failing to win a single seat in the 2021 Bengal assembly polls. Attempts to revive the party through an alliance with the Left did not work, with many terming it a blunder.

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