Mamata Banerjee backs Congress in Nandigram as Trinamool's crisis deepens

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's decision to back Congress candidate Milan Pradhan in the Nandigram Assembly bypoll marks a sharp turn in a rivalry that has shaped West Bengal politics for decades. Observers are seeing it as a possible reset in opposition politics at a time when the TMC is facing a deep organisational crisis.

The support came hours after Banerjee faction nominee Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew from the October 6 contest following a meeting with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in Kolkata. The Election Commission has also frozen the TMC name and its traditional 'Jora Ghash Phul' symbol amid an internal party dispute, and allotted separate names and symbols to Banerjee's faction and dissidents for the Nandigram and Rejinagar bypolls.

Announcing support for Pradhan on September 18, Banerjee described the Congress as a "sister party" and a "natural ally". She said the decision had been taken in the larger interest of the country and to strengthen the INDIA bloc, and added that she wanted to send a message from Bengal about the future of the opposition alliance.

Observers, however, said the timing gave the move a clear tactical edge. Banerjee's camp had first fielded a candidate in Nandigram and support for the Congress came only after that nominee pulled out. They said the decision was aimed at avoiding a split in the anti-BJP vote and was also a political response to a difficult phase for her faction.

The development gained more attention after Pradhan was arrested in a case linked to the 2007 Nandigram land agitation soon after Banerjee's announcement and was sent to jail.

The move also carries political irony. Banerjee emerged from the Congress before breaking away in the late 1990s to form the TMC, arguing that the Congress was not fighting the CPI(M) strongly enough. Even so, the two parties have come together at different points when faced with a bigger political rival.

They fought the 2001 Assembly election together after Banerjee left the NDA, teamed up again in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, and reached their closest point in 2011 when the Congress and TMC together ended the Left Front's 34-year rule in Bengal.

That partnership later broke down over policy differences, seat-sharing disputes and the functioning of the state government. During Banerjee's 15-year rule, Congress leaders repeatedly accused the TMC of weakening their organisation politically, while the TMC cast the Congress as an ineffective force whose decline helped the BJP and the Left.

Observers said Banerjee's latest gesture was therefore more than routine bypoll arithmetic and showed that she had publicly placed the Congress at the centre of an anti-BJP strategy in Bengal.

Congress veteran Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, however, played down suggestions of any immediate rapprochement. He said Banerjee should support the Congress "not as a fallen leaf but by holding the hand of the banyan tree", and that the party's revival under Rahul Gandhi should be recognised.

Referring to the symbol allotted to Banerjee's faction by the EC, he said, "One should note the timing of the support. It happened after her candidate withdrew from the race. She now has the 'football player' symbol, but she has no player left to play her game."

He added, "That's why she has come to us, knowing we are the only third force that has the ability to take on the BJP."

Bengal Pradesh Congress president Subhankar Sarkar struck a different note. "The Congress welcomes any support coming from the anti-BJP and secular political repository of the state, which will recognise our party's fight against the saffron conglomerate with Rahul Gandhi leading it from the front," he said.

He added, "One never knows this development in Bengal may open up a new political path facilitating a separate cementing factor for the opposition." Congress leaders have criticised Pradhan's arrest, with Gandhi calling it political vendetta and saying the party would "fight and win".

BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya rejected the possible opposition understanding, saying, "Adding zero to zero will only result in zero." He said both the Congress and the TMC were looking for political survival and that an alliance would not revive either party.

Observers said the Nandigram decision appeared to be an attempt by Banerjee and her faction to hold on to a wider anti-BJP constituency while their own organisational identity remains under pressure.

Supporting the Congress also lets Banerjee project herself as a national opposition leader rather than only the head of a faction locked in a battle over the Trinamool's name and symbol.

Senior journalist Biswajit Bhattacharya said, "There is no love lost between the two sides, but Banerjee seems to be clutching at straws."

He added, "But since both sides are struggling for political foothold, this arrangement could benefit both for the time being, with the Congress hoping to gain from some of Banerjee's remaining popularity."

Even so, Nandigram alone is unlikely to wipe out years of rivalry and mistrust, with the Congress still keen to rebuild independently in Bengal and Banerjee having long resisted any arrangement that could weaken the TMC's primacy in the state.