Keeping an eye on the 2026 Assembly polls, the CPM wants a ‘capable’ Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president. On Monday, all-India Congress leaders held a meeting with their state counterparts.

They made it clear that Adhir Chowdhury had resigned from the position of state president after the elections. A decision on the next state president will be announced soon. In this context, the CPM in Bengal is looking towards the Delhi Congress for cues. Even the ruling party, Trinamul, is keeping an eye on the matter. The CPM state leadership is uncertain about the stance the new state president will take on opposing Trinamul, if Adhir is not in the position.

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At the national level, there are instances of coordination between Congress and Trinamul. In Parliament too, an apparent unity is observed. Moreover, in Malda, North Dinajpur district and parts of Murshidabad, Congress is still seen as a significant force in the equation of minority votes, according to some senior CPM leaders. If someone else replaces Adhir, it could alter the equation between the two parties in the state, according to some in the left parties.

There is significant doubt among CPM leaders about how ‘aggressive’ the new president will be in opposing the Trinamul in state. Publicly, however, they are avoiding comments on the matter. For instance, CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty, said, “Congress is a national party. Just as they play a role in the fight against the BJP at the national level, it is also essential to continue the fight against both Trinamul and BJP in Bengal. I hope Congress will play that crucial role in the state.”

A source in CPM stated, “Except for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, from 2016 onwards, we do not even know how many votes our party and the Left Front secured because we have contested all elections with seat adjustments with Congress. In 2021, the ISF was also with us. Now, if Congress in the state moves closer to Trinamul, leaving the Left, we will have to devise a new election strategy.” Several months before the 2024 Lok Sabha election, a possible alliance between Congress and the Trinamul in Bengal had arisen. It began to take shape last August when Abhishek Banerjee, the national general secretary of Trinamul, met Rahul Gandhi early in the morning in Delhi. But the alliance did not materialize due to Adhir Chowdhury’s continued strong opposition to Mamata Banerjee and Trinamul. At that time, Trinamul openly stated that it was because of Adhir that the understanding in Bengal did not happen! Trinamul had secured a significant victory in the Lok Sabha elections this time. However, the ruling party reviews showed that in some places, Congress held dominance over the minority votes.

A Trinamul leader said, “Had there been an understanding with Congress in the Lok Sabha, the BJP would not have won the Malda North and Raiganj seats.” He further stated that this number would rise to 45-50 when viewed in terms of Assembly segments, which is a ‘significant’ number. It is true that many senior Delhi Congress leaders, such as Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal, want their party in Bengal to move in coordination with Mamata. But without sidelining Adhir, the high command could not enforce this. Adhir remained firm on his stance and even clashed at times. Thus, if someone else becomes the state president, there are questions within Congress about how effectively they can achieve this. However, the CPM is more interested to know who the next state Congress president will be. It is learnt that the Trinamul is also keeping an eye on the matter.