Congress infighting spills over to West Bengal as Gen Secy quits in opposition to Adhir

The infighting in Congress extended to West Bengal as the state unit's general secretary Rohan Mitra quit his post in protest against Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Incidentally, Chowdhury had taken over as the WB Congress president in 2020 after the former's father Somen Mitra passed away due to a cardiac arrest. A three-term state Congress chief and 7-time Sealdah MLA, Somen Mitra was considered as one of the main architects behind the CPI (M)-led Left Front and Congress alliance in 2016.

Addressing a letter to Chowdhury, Rohan Mitra claimed that he was repeatedly humiliated. He stated, "The sycophants surrounding you have not only brought your downfall but also led to the ultimate downfall of the party in the state, with no visible signs of revival in the near future. The change in tone and narrative towards the incumbent Trinamool Congress government and Chief Minister of West Bengal is proof of that. The people you brought in and put in the positions of leadership show how incapable you are as the face of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress". 

He added, "You were the one who went to Furfura to talk to Abbas, you and the CLP opened doors for the alliance with ISF, even after the humiliation at the Brigade Rally on the 28th of February, you still carried on the alliance which you now deny". Mocking him for Congress' failure to occupy the opposition space, Mitra took potshots at the 'Adhir Sena' clique. This development comes at a juncture when Congress is reportedly planning to replace Chowdhury as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. 

Congress fails to open account in West Bengal polls

After a hard-fought election campaign, TMC sprung a surprise by decisively winning the West Bengal election by bagging 213 seats whereas BJP could win in only 77 constituencies. While the JP Nadda-led party won 74 more seats than the previous election, its vote share of 38.13% could not pose a challenge to TMC which garnered a vote share of 47.94%. Though the ruling party bettered its performance compared to 2016, it suffered a minor blip as WB CM Mamata Banerjee lost from Nandigram to her BJP opponent Suvendu Adhikari.

However, barring the Nandigram MLA, most other TMC leaders who had switched over to BJP prior to the election could not win their seats. Even ex-nominated Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta, Union Minister Babul Supriyo and BJP Lok Sabha MP Locket Chatterjee had to face defeat. On the other hand, Congress and the Left Front drew a blank in the election whereas ISF won a single seat.