West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will contest the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections independently, ruling out any alliance with the Congress or any other party. The declaration was made during a meeting with TMC legislators before the commencement of the budget session in the West Bengal Assembly on Monday.
Mamata Banerjee firmly stated that the Congress has no significant presence in West Bengal, making any alliance with the party unnecessary. “Congress has nothing in West Bengal. So there is no question of having an alliance with Congress in the state. Trinamool Congress will be contesting alone in West Bengal. We will form the government again for the fourth time in 2026, securing a two-thirds majority,” she asserted, according to a senior member of the state cabinet.
The Chief Minister also attributed the recent electoral victories of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi and Haryana to the disunity within the opposition. She criticized the Congress for not supporting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi and blamed AAP for not assisting the Congress in Haryana, which she believes paved the way for the BJP’s dominance in both states. “In Delhi, Congress did not help the Aam Aadmi Party. Again in Haryana, AAP did not help Congress. As a result, BJP emerged as the victor in both the states. Had Congress and AAP remained united in Delhi and Haryana, the results would not have been such for the opposition in both the states,” a state cabinet minister quoted Mamata Banerjee as saying.
During the meeting, Mamata Banerjee also issued warnings to party legislators who have made controversial statements in public, causing embarrassment to the party leadership. She cautioned that repeated mistakes of this nature would not be tolerated. This comes in the wake of a statement by TMC legislator Madan Mitra, who recently claimed that paying money to secure a position in the party’s district committee was a common practice. His remarks caused considerable embarrassment for the party, prompting him to issue an apology to TMC’s West Bengal state president, Subrata Bakshi.
Additionally, the Chief Minister addressed concerns regarding internal conflicts within TMC, particularly in Malda and West Burdwan districts. She cautioned party legislators against factional infighting at the district level and urged them to maintain unity within the organization. The meeting underscored Mamata Banerjee’s commitment to strengthening TMC ahead of the 2026 elections and reaffirmed her party’s stance of contesting the polls without any external alliances.
