Congress Non-Committal to Support TMC in West Bengal, to Support Shiv Sena (UBT) Candidate in Maharashtra

Rohit Kumar

NEW DELHI, Apr 30: The Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday refused to commit if his party will extend support to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the event of the Assembly elections in West Bengal throw up a hung Assembly as predicted by some exit polls.

With several exit polls suggesting a tight contest between the TMC and the BJP, which is trying hard to dislodge Mamata Banerjee’s party from power, in West Bengal, Kharge was asked about the Congress’s stance on a potential post-poll alliance.

“We will see; it doesn’t look appropriate to comment now. Let us wait two days for a clearer picture,” he said, indicating that the party would take a call only after the results are announced.

The West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 were conducted in two phases and the results of the elections are scheduled to be declared on May 4, which will determine whether the state delivers a clear verdict or heads towards a coalition scenario.

The TMC and the BJP were the only two parties to contest all the 294 seats, while the Congress, the CPI(M) and several other parties had also set up candidates on many seats. Though the two main rivals are the contenders for power, exit polls have predicted some 17 to 20 seats to “others” including the Congress and CPI(M).

Meanwhile, in Maharashtra the Congress, part of the opposition alliance of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Thursday announced that the party would not field a candidate for the Legislative Council elections in the State scheduled to be held on May 12. The decision was taken after MVA leaders held a meeting at the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s residence.

On Wednesday, the Shiv Sena (UBT) had unilaterally announced Ambadas Danve as its candidate for the council elections. Mr Danve has also already filed his nominations. Reacting to this, the Congress also announced that it would field its own candidate for the polls, opening up the possibility of alliance partners contesting for a single seat in the Council.

However, the Congress appears to have resigned from its stand following Mr Thackeray’s talk with the party’s leader Ramesh Chennithala. Also, with this development, the Congress has expressed expectation that the two regional parties — Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) — will now support it for any upcoming polls in Maharashtra. As per the strength of each party of the ruling Mahayuti, the BJP will get four seats, Shiv Sena two, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) two. The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will get one seat. The last day for filing of nominations was Thursday.

Earlier, the Congress and the NCP (SP) had said they would support Mr Thackeray’s candidature, however, Mr Thackeray reportedly told Mr Chennithala that he planned to retire and concentrate in strengthening the organization and didn’t want to contest the polls.

Out of the nine seats going to the polls, the BJP is slated to contest four seats, plus one by-poll seat vacated by Pradnya Satav, after she left the Congress to join the BJP in December of last year. The MVA together can secure one seat.