New Delhi, April 24 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday described Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s recent criticism of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal as a “late realisation”, reacting to the Congress leader’s remarks on the party’s role in the BJP’s rise in the state.

“It has been realised very late,” HM Shah told IANS in Kolkata, responding to Rahul Gandhi’s video message on social media platform X.

In the 106-second video clip posted on Thursday, Gandhi criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) policies and governance and urged voters in West Bengal to support the Congress.

“If Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had run a clean government and had not polarised Bengal, then the BJP would not have got a chance,” he said.

The political context of Congress-Trinamool relations in West Bengal has evolved significantly over the years. It was the Congress that supported the Trinamool Congress in its rise to power in 2011.

However, relations between the two parties have since fluctuated amid shifting alliances and electoral strategies.

In 2024, the Congress removed state committee President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, known for his vocal criticism of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

He stepped down as Pradesh Congress chief after losing the Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency, which he had represented five consecutive times between 1999 and 2019.

Chowdhury had also served as the Congress leader in the 17th Lok Sabha, though the party did not have the numbers required for him to be recognised as the official Leader of Opposition. He was among the leaders in West Bengal who pushed for an alliance with the Left Front, once a principal rival, to challenge the Trinamool Congress.

The Congress and the Left Front contested the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections together but failed to dislodge the Trinamool Congress, which retained power with a stronger mandate.

Historically, the Trinamool Congress had earlier withdrawn from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2006 after electoral setbacks. In 2009, it allied with the Congress for the Lok Sabha elections after the Left Front withdrew support to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre.

The alliance proved successful in the 2011 West Bengal Assembly elections, ending the Left Front’s uninterrupted 34-year rule.

However, the Congress and Trinamool later parted ways in 2013, after which the Congress aligned with the Left Front in the state.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, both the Congress and the Left failed to secure any seats, marking a significant decline in their electoral presence.

Following setbacks in both the Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls — where the Congress won only one seat in Malda out of 42 in West Bengal — the party underwent leadership changes in the state unit. Subhankar Sarkar, considered a relatively moderate face, replaced Chowdhury.

His tenure saw the Congress distancing itself from renewed alliance efforts with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), leading to a multi-cornered contest in the state. This fragmentation of opposition votes altered the electoral dynamics, indirectly impacting the balance between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress.

Against this backdrop, HM Shah’s remarks framed Rahul Gandhi’s recent criticism of the Trinamool Congress as belated, highlighting the complex and evolving political equations in West Bengal.

–IANS

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