BJP Opposition in Bengal: TMC vs CPM Battle
Sep 20, 2026 - By Ashutosh Roy PoliticsCurrent AffairsPolitical IdeologiesRegional UpdatesWest Bengal Politics
BJP Opposition in Bengal: Who Really Matters?
At a complicated moment in West Bengal politics, one question has suddenly become impossible to avoid: who is the principal opposition to the BJP in Bengal? Some people may even abuse me for asking this question. With the Trinamool Congress holding 80 seats, they may say the question itself is ridiculous. But politics is rarely as neat as a school textbook. The numbers may say one thing while the political reality says something else. This is precisely where the question becomes important. So, let us look at it without getting trapped in simple mathematics.
Why TMC Is Still the Main BJP Opposition
On paper, there is absolutely no doubt. The Trinamool Congress is the principal opposition party. The 2026 Assembly election gave the BJP 207 seats and the TMC 80. The Congress won only two, while the CPI(M) managed just one seat. In other words, the people of Bengal clearly identified the TMC as the principal opponent of the BJP when they went to vote. At least, that was the people’s verdict.
But then came the twist in the tale.
Where Does Trinamool End and “Mul” Begin?
The Trinamool Congress has been breaking apart so rapidly that it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand where the Trinamool ends and where the Mul — the original — begins. We saw a large number of MLAs move away under Ritabrata’s leadership. The Speaker subsequently recognised Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition, a decision that has itself become part of a legal and political dispute.
Then came Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. After losing organisational positions, she resigned from all her party posts, although she did not resign as an MP. That distinction was interesting. She left the party posts but kept her parliamentary position. In politics, even a resignation can sometimes say more than a speech.
How the TMC Crisis Reached Delhi
Then, suddenly, we saw a letter carrying the signatures of a group of MPs. They wanted to sit separately in the Lok Sabha as a separate bloc and would no longer recognise Abhishek Banerjee as the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha.
Then came the pictures of meetings in Delhi. Reports emerged of meetings involving BJP leaders, followed by the 20 MPs joining the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India, or NCPI. Twenty at one go. Suddenly, the mathematics of the anti-defection law became the centre of political discussion. Then came the photographs, the meetings, the breakfast, the political hospitality. At one point, it almost looked less like a political crisis and more like a badly written political serial where every episode ends with another photograph.
Twenty First. Seventeen Next?
For quite some time, we have been hearing that the Trinamool Congress has effectively split into different camps. Sometimes there were those rather charming photographs of people sharing payesh; at other times, photographs appeared of Ritabrata meeting Suvendu. Everything seemed to be progressing rather smoothly.
Then came September 14. Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, the rebel TMC MP from Cooch Behar, dropped what sounded like a political bombshell. He claimed that 17 of the 20 NCPI MPs would join the BJP before or after Durga Puja.
The arithmetic is rather interesting. First, 20 people move to NCPI. Then, according to Basunia’s claim, 17 of them move to the BJP. Here comes the real mathematical wizardry.
There is, however, an important catch. Other rebel MPs have disputed the claim, while the Bengal BJP has also distanced itself from the suggestion that such a mass induction is already decided. So this is a political claim, not a completed political transaction.
Who Is Behind the Rebel MP Operation?
Basunia went even further. He alleged that the entire operation involving the rebel MPs had been arranged with the involvement of Amit Shah, Bhupender Yadav and Suvendu Adhikari. That is a serious allegation, and it should be treated as an allegation unless and until there is evidence establishing it as fact.
But politically, the allegation itself tells us something. The TMC’s internal crisis has gone far beyond a quarrel between a few disgruntled leaders. It has become a question of party identity, parliamentary numbers, political survival and the future of the opposition in Bengal.
Can TMC Still Lead the Opposition?
The legal and parliamentary questions are still unresolved. The dispute over the rebel MPs and the TMC’s competing factions has not reached a final conclusion. The Election Commission was also dealing with the rival claims over the party’s name and symbol before deciding on freezing the name and symbol for the upcoming bi-election.
Therefore, the immediate question for the BJP in Bengal may no longer simply be: who is the principal opposition? The bigger question may be: who is joining which party or group — and for whose political interest?
Watching the Trinamool Congress break apart like pieces of straw, the Indian National Congress may perhaps be sitting somewhere and enjoying the spectacle. Perhaps they are saying, “Now you know how it feels”.
After all, we should not forget that the Trinamool Congress was born from the Congress. And Mamata Banerjee did not merely break away from the Congress when she founded the TMC. Whenever political opportunity came later, the Congress continued to lose ground to the TMC. Look at districts that were once considered Congress strongholds — Murshidabad, Malda and parts of North Bengal. Remember the Jhalda municipality episode. Remember Byron Biswas. The pattern is not difficult to see.
Did Mamata Create Bengal’s Opposition Vacuum?
Mamata Banerjee had enthusiastically played the game of aggressive politics in which there was very little space for a meaningful opposition. That was once her strength. But politics has a strange habit: the weapon you use against your opponent can eventually be turned against you.
So today, is Mamata herself ready to play the role of the principal opposition? Or will the BJP, following the very political path that the TMC once used so successfully, eventually destroy the political space of the TMC?
That is the real question.
Mamata has announced several times that she would undertake district tours, but her political outreach outside Kolkata has remained a subject of discussion. Her opponents say she is afraid. They point to the “chor chor” slogans and say she is avoiding the streets. Perhaps they are right. Perhaps they are not. But politics is not fought on Facebook alone.
Can Congress Challenge the BJP in Bengal?
Now let us move from Bengal to the national picture. No matter how often Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls Rahul Gandhi “Pappu”, or how frequently BJP leaders mock him, the political reality at the national level is rather simple: the Indian National Congress remains the principal national opposition party to the BJP.
At the regional level, several parties can still challenge the BJP in their respective states. But many of them have been struggling. Tejashwi Yadav has his own problems in Bihar. Akhilesh Yadav has his own political challenges in Uttar Pradesh. Arvind Kejriwal’s political position in Delhi has also changed dramatically, while Nitish Kumar has hardly enjoyed a simple political journey either.
Therefore, at the national level, the Congress remains the most substantial opposition to the BJP.
Why Does BJP Still Take Congress Seriously?
When Rahul Gandhi holds a press conference and presents his arguments over alleged “vote theft“, the Election Commission responds publicly to his allegations. That itself shows how seriously the controversy is being treated.
There is an important political lesson here. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah may repeatedly speak about a Congress-mukt Bharat, but if the Congress were politically irrelevant, why spend so much political energy fighting it?
When Rahul Gandhi made his political arguments around the Manusmriti in Pune, BJP leaders responded strongly. Again, the point is not whether Rahul Gandhi’s argument was correct. The point is that the BJP treats the Congress as a political opponent worth attacking. That tells us something.
Why Is Congress So Weak in Bengal?
In Bengal, however, the same Congress has been reduced to something close to a regional force. Apart from Malda and Murshidabad, it is difficult to find a strong statewide Congress organisation capable of seriously challenging the BJP. The 2026 Assembly result tells its own story: two seats.
That is not enough to become the principal statewide opposition force. Congress may be the principal opposition to the BJP nationally, but Bengal is not Delhi. And Bengal’s political arithmetic is not India’s political arithmetic.
Can CPI(M) Return as a BJP Opposition?
What about the CPI(M)?
The CPI(M) still retains national-party recognition, but historically its real political strength has been concentrated in Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. After losing power in Bengal in 2011, the party has spent years fighting for political survival in terms of numbers.
Tripura was already lost. In 2026, Kerala also slipped away from the Left-led side. In Bengal, meanwhile, the CPI(M) won just one Assembly seat.
So, with the party reduced from its old parliamentary strength to a single-digit presence in the Lok Sabha and with no state government under its control, it would be rather generous to call the CPI(M) the principal opposition to the BJP in Bengal.
But that does not mean the Left is finished. That would be another mistake.
Moreover, the CPI(M) carries a different kind of baggage from the TMC. Its leaders may face allegations of political control, cadre violence or even threat in some cases, but the party has not acquired the same corruption-related baggage that now hangs over several TMC leaders. Unlike the TMC, where a number of ministers and senior leaders have faced arrest in corruption cases, the CPI(M)’s political legacy is not defined by ministers going to jail over corruption cases. That difference may become politically relevant if voters start comparing not just ideology and organisation, but also the credibility of those seeking to replace the TMC.
Why the Left Is Still in the Fight
For the most part, the Left’s political visibility today comes through social media, television debates, street movements and, importantly, university campuses. The same issue comes up when Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari speaks about the University Teacher Transfer Bill 2026, the Left and Jadavpur University inevitably enter the conversation.
The new university transfer legislation has already triggered opposition from sections of the academic community. Suvendu has defended the move as a way of using experienced faculty in universities that need them, while critics argue that it threatens university autonomy.
Can Campus Politics Help the Left?
The campus disturbances being reported from different parts of Bengal are also bringing Left student organisations into confrontation with the BJP’s ABVP in some cases. Even when the ABVP raised its voice against the Vice-Principal of Surendranath Law College, allegations about her earlier association with Left politics became part of the political argument.
This is important because an opposition party does not necessarily begin its comeback by winning 80 seats. Sometimes it begins by winning an argument, sometimes inside a university and sometimes on the street. And sometimes it begins by simply refusing to disappear.
CPM Has Baggage — But Also New Faces
When discussing the Left, however, both sides of the story have to be acknowledged. Yes, the CPI(M) has political baggage. There are leaders like Salim whose long political careers carry the weight of the old Left politics. But there are also younger faces — Meenakshi, Shatarup, Srijan and Dipshita.
These leaders do not have to personally carry the burden of the Left Front’s 34-year legacy. That is an advantage. They are younger, visible and willing to take political risks. Unlike many old political leaders, they do not appear frightened of the street.
Their willingness to take such positions matters. That bring them face-to-face with the government, the police or rival political organisations. Whether one agrees with their politics or not, one cannot say that they are invisible.
Why BJP Cannot Ignore the Left
Then there is the ideological battle. The BJP and the Left are not merely electoral opponents. They represent two sharply different political traditions. For the RSS, the Left has historically been one of its principal ideological opponents.
That ideological fight gives the Left an advantage Congress does not really have in Bengal today. The Left knows whom it is fighting and has a language of its own.
The CPI(M) is nowhere near winning Bengal today, and the Left is certainly not the principal opposition. Writing it off altogether, however, would be a mistake.
Why Is the Ruling Camp Still Wary of the CPI(M)?
One thing needs to be understood clearly. From Jalpaiguri to Chandrakona Road and all the way to Bally, CPI(M) party offices have reportedly come under repeated attacks. The party may have been pushed far back in electoral politics, but it still has the organisational strength to hold meetings, take out rallies and raise issues on the ground.
More importantly, the CPI(M) is now taking up several issues that affect ordinary people directly. These movements may not always bring large crowds, but some of them are clearly uncomfortable for the government.
Take Sushanta Ghosh, for example. He became a deeply controversial figure during the Left Front years. If he now takes out a rally in Chandrakona Road, why should that create so much anxiety for the ruling side? And if the answer is to break or burn a party office in the darkness of night, sometimes allegedly with police help, it is difficult to see what political courage that represents.
There is another possibility. The fragmented Trinamool Congress may be looking beyond its immediate problems and BJP has started to see the CPI(M) as a potential political rival in the future. The CPI(M) may be electorally weak today, but its ability to organise protests around public issues means it cannot simply be written off.
Can CPM Fill Bengal’s Opposition Vacuum?
Whether the Left can actually become a serious opposition to the BJP is still uncertain. But the Left’s resurgence, however small, is beginning to attract attention. The real test is whether it can turn that visibility into organisation, public support and eventually votes.
For now, however, the TMC remains the principal opposition. It has 80 MLAs, a much wider organisation than Congress or the CPI(M), and a political presence that neither party can match in Bengal today. The problem is that the TMC is fighting its own battles at the same time — over leadership, party identity, MPs, MLAs and organisational control. Eighty seats may look impressive on paper, but a divided opposition cannot rely on numbers forever.
Congress faces a different problem. It remains the principal opposition to the BJP nationally, but Bengal is another story. With only two Assembly seats and a weak statewide organisation, it is nowhere close to replacing the TMC as the main challenger. Its history in Bengal still matters, but history alone does not win elections.
The CPI(M), meanwhile, has only one MLA, yet writing off the Left would be premature. It still has cadres, an ideological identity and some presence in street and campus politics. Its younger leaders are also trying to rebuild the party in a political landscape where the TMC is no longer as secure as it once appeared.
Bengal has seen this kind of change before. After 2011, the Left and Congress gradually lost political ground, and the BJP moved into the opposition space they could no longer hold effectively. The BJP did not become Bengal’s principal challenger overnight. It took years of organisation, agitation and political consolidation before it finally formed the government in 2026.
The same political logic can work in reverse. If the TMC loses more organisational ground, someone will try to occupy the space it leaves behind. It could be Congress, the CPI(M), a reorganised TMC faction or even a political force that nobody is taking seriously today.
This is where the BJP opposition in Bengal becomes a much bigger question than the present BJP-versus-TMC contest. The TMC is the main opposition today, but today’s position is not a lifetime guarantee. In Bengal politics, a political vacuum rarely stays empty for long.
The question is no longer whether that space can change. The question is who will capture it. The TMC may recover, the CPI(M) may rebuild, Congress may surprise everyone, or another force may emerge. For now, the race has no clear winner — but the race itself has already begun.
Knowledge Mart Final Thoughts
Bengal politics has never respected political certainties. Congress once looked unshakeable, then the Left took over, and the TMC eventually pushed it aside. After 2016, the BJP filled the space left by the weakening Left and Congress and finally came to power in 2026.
Now the cycle is turning again. The BJP now controls the government. The TMC remains the biggest opposition force. The CPI(M), meanwhile, sees a chance to rebuild. Congress still carries a national name, but its Bengal organisation remains weak.
The real battle, therefore, is for the opposition space. Whoever can capture that space, build an organisation and win back public trust will have the best chance of challenging the BJP in the years ahead. Bengal has seen political vacuums filled before. There is little reason to believe the next one will be different.
10 Key Takeaways
- For now, there is little doubt about the numbers: the TMC remains the main opposition to the BJP with 80 Assembly seats. The bigger question is whether it can remain united.
- The opposition battle is no longer only about Assembly arithmetic. It is about who can actually occupy the political space left behind by a weakening rival.
- The TMC’s rebel MPs have added a new layer to an already messy factional fight. The party’s leadership, identity and parliamentary strength are all under pressure.
- Congress still matters nationally. Bengal, however, is a different story. Two Assembly seats tell us how far the party has fallen here.
- One MLA does not make the CPI(M) a serious opposition force today. Still, the Left retains cadres, an ideological identity and some visibility on the streets and campuses.
- Meenakshi Mukherjee, Shatarup Ghosh, Srijan Bhattacharya and Ishita Mukherjee represent a younger Left that is trying to move beyond the old leadership.
- If the TMC continues to lose ground, the BJP will not be the only party watching. The Left will want that space too.
- Bengal has done this before. The BJP itself rose by occupying political space that the Left and Congress gradually surrendered after 2016.
- The TMC has 80 seats today. That is a formidable number, but 80 seats do not guarantee permanent political relevance.
- Who becomes the next major BJP opposition in Bengal is still an open question. TMC, Congress, CPI(M) or even a new political combination could eventually surprise the state.