After suffering several electoral setbacks, the opposition coalition of INDIA is divided within and its internal bickerings have surfaced, throwing the bloc to new challenges. With TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee offering to lead INDIA, and many regional satraps coming out in the open to back her, the Congress Party and the opposition bloc face a crisis, witnessed never before.

Can Mamata Banerjee Lead INDIA To Electoral Victory?

As the West Bengal Chief Minister has raised the red flag and challenged the leadership of the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, the moot question is: if she can lead the loose and fit to all outfit.

Does she have the ability to lead the alliance and take it to the next electoral battle in a cohesive manner?

How can the party with its presence in only one state fight the battle at the national level and be acceptable to all partners of the coalition?

What can the TMC boss bring to the table?

Congress-TMC Strife

Mamata Banerjee made her intention clear when the TMC refused to join the Congress in stalling the house proceedings on the Adani issue. It argued that many other equally important matters will get ignored if this strategy to corner the BJP is adopted, however, the Congress remained steadfast.

Also Read: Opposition in Disarray: AAP Snubs Congress, Exposing Cracks In INDIA Bloc Ahead Of Delhi Assembly Elections 2025
Other INDIA coalition constituents like the Samajwadi Party, National Congress Party and Shiv Sena UBT also supported her and suggested the grand old party not to stick to it gun and let the house run so that other pressing issues could be discussed.

Regional Satraps Against Congress

The support offered by regional satraps like Akhilesh Yadav, Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray has not come all of a sudden and to allow the house to run smoothly. They have their design and strategy.

As these parties have flourished with the weakening of the Congress in their respective states, a revival of the party will take place at their cost.

Secondly, these parties have to fight the grand old party in their states to improve their position.

Also Read: Will Deputy Chairman Harivansh Accept No-Confidence Motion Against Rajya Sabha Chairman?

The TMC not only refused to share seats with the Congress and the Left parties in the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021, it also personally targeted then-state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Choudhury and defeated him for being vocal and trying his best to win as many seats for the party as possible.

Adhir lost the election and the party under his leadership was reduced to just one seat.

TMC Has No All-India Presence

The biggest problem with the TMC is that it has no presence outside West Bengal. Besides, Mamata Banerjee is known for her dictatorial approach and mercurial behaviour.

Congress has gone to the extent of accusing her of hobnobbing with the saffron party with the sole aim of defeating it. In the recently held elections for cooperative banks in Purba Medinipur and Contai in West Bengal, the BJP and the TMC joined hands and won all 50 seats, deminising the Congress and the CPIM to zero.

The TMC leadership defended the party by arguing that the decision to share seats was taken by the local leaders and there is no change in party’s policy of fighting the BJP.

However, CPIM State Secretary Muhammad Salim slammed the ruling party and called the TMC and the BJP two sides of a coin.

Is Congress To Blame?

Political analysts believe Congress is to blame for this situation. The party failed to keep the momentum it gained during the Lok Sabha elections, it failed miserably in the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections.

Though the INDIA constituents National Conference and JMM won elections in the states of Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand respectively, the Congress failed to keep its number of seats intact.

These political reverses have emboldened the regional satraps to revolt.

What Will TMC Gain?

The political analysts believe, nothing significant may happen in the INDIA bloc till 2026, when West Bengal and some other states would go to polls.

The fight to control the opposition bloc and the bickering may pick up after that and may continue till 2029 when the Lok Sabha elections will be held.

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee may up the ante, but she may not get anything substantial now. Even if she becomes the INDIA leader now, she may not take the bloc forward, nor will she be able to help her party or weaken the BJP.

Way Forward For INDIA?

Parties like the DMK, YRS Congress, and AAP may have their own cars to play with the sole aim of achieving their own political game. They may not join this struggle and focus on their own states and the game plan to win elections there.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party has announced its decision to fight the Delhi Assembly Election 2025 alone and not to share seats with the Congress. The state leaders of the grand old party too do not want to join hands with the ruling party. They want to fight it, make their presence felt and regain the ground they lost to the party.

The MK Stalin party in Tamil Nadu has not opened its cards, but it sympathises with the grand old party. Similarly, the YRS Congress has not yet revealed its strategy. It wants to focus on its state and take on the ruling party.

The saffron party may enjoy the rift and internal strife in the opposite camp and remain cosy.