CPI(M) leader Md Salim. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Congress party’s decision to go solo in the upcoming Assembly polls in West Bengal, will not have any impact on the electoral prospects of Left Front, Communist Party of India ( Marxist) State Secretary Md. Salim said on Friday (February 6, 2026).

The CPI(M) leader said that there was never any formal alliance with the Congress party but only a seat sharing arrangement. Mr. Salim added that after the 2021 Assembly elections there has been no joint programme between the Congress and the CPI(M). He added that the new State president of Congress Subhankar Sarkar has not taken any position against the Trinamool Congress, which made the party’s stance clear.

The Congress party on Thursday (February 5, 2026) announced that it will contest independently in all the 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal, ending speculation of any electoral understanding with the Left Front in the polls due in next few months. The decision by Congress came after a meeting, where party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress general secretary and the party’s in-charge for West Bengal Ghulam Ahmad Mir and State Congress president Subhankar Sarkar were present.

The development marks a fresh alignment in West Bengal politics, where the CPI(M) is trying to hold talks with Humayun Kabir who has recently set up Janata Unnayan Party (JUP) and Indian Secular Front of Naswad Siddique. A recent meeting between Mr. Salim and Mr Kabir has indicated that the Left Front would be looking for new alliance partners. Mr. Siddique has also called for an early agreement on seat sharing with CPI(M).

After 2018, the politics in the State has essentially become bipolar with the sharp rise in vote share of both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP. The decision of the Congress to go solo also comes as a setback to the idea of all non BJP and anti-Trinamool parties coming under one banner in West Bengal.

Published – February 07, 2026 04:17 am IST