A reported attempt by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) to explore an electoral understanding with the Congress ahead of the Nandigram Assembly bypoll has triggered fresh political discussion in West Bengal. While a senior Congress leader has claimed that the TMC approached the party with a proposal involving Nandigram, the Trinamool Congress has denied that any such arrangement was offered.

According to former West Bengal Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya, the TMC contacted a senior Congress leader in New Delhi roughly two weeks before the bypoll schedule was announced. The reported proposal involved Congress contesting the Nandigram seat while the TMC focused on the Rejinagar constituency in Murshidabad district.

Bhattacharya said the Congress leadership sought time to consider the proposal and subsequently discussed the matter with senior leaders in West Bengal. According to his account, the state leadership concluded that an alliance with the TMC was not appropriate at this stage.

The reported proposal has emerged at a politically significant moment, with Nandigram preparing for an October 6 bypoll and the TMC facing an internal organisational crisis. The constituency has long carried political importance for Mamata Banerjee and her party because of the anti-land-acquisition movement that began there in 2007 and contributed to the decline of the Left Front’s rural political base.

TMC Denies Any Electoral Proposal

The Trinamool Congress has rejected the claim that it approached the Congress for an electoral pact. Senior TMC leader Kunal Ghosh denied that such a proposal was under consideration.

The conflicting accounts have therefore created uncertainty over whether any formal or informal discussions took place between the two parties. While Congress leaders have described contacts between the parties, the TMC has maintained that no such proposal was made.

Congress sources, meanwhile, indicated that the party’s state leadership was opposed to entering into an electoral understanding with the TMC. The issue was reportedly discussed among senior Congress leaders in Bengal before the party decided against such an arrangement.

The Congress has been seeking to rebuild its organisation in West Bengal after years of decline. Party leaders have argued that maintaining an independent political identity is important as the party attempts to regain support among sections of the electorate.

Why Nandigram Matters

Nandigram occupies a special place in West Bengal’s political history. The anti-land-acquisition agitation in the region became one of the major political developments that weakened the Left Front’s long-standing dominance in the state.

Mamata Banerjee subsequently made Nandigram a central part of her political campaign against the Left. However, the constituency also became the site of one of the most closely watched electoral contests of her career.

In the 2021 Assembly election, Banerjee contested Nandigram against Suvendu Adhikari, who had previously been associated with the TMC but later joined the BJP. Adhikari defeated Banerjee by a narrow margin of 1,956 votes.

The constituency again remained politically significant in the 2026 Assembly election. Adhikari retained Nandigram, defeating TMC candidate Pabitra Kar by 9,665 votes. He subsequently vacated the Nandigram seat after retaining Bhabanipur, creating the need for a bypoll.

The upcoming contest has therefore attracted considerable attention from all major political formations in the state.

Four-Way Contest Takes Shape

The Nandigram bypoll is expected to see competition among multiple political groups. The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC has nominated Sanchita Pradhan (Dey), while the rebel TMC faction has fielded Mohammad Eteshamul Haque.

The Congress has nominated Milan Pradhan, while the BJP has chosen Hasirani Rath, the mother of Chandranath Rath, a former aide of Suvendu Adhikari who was killed in May.

The presence of candidates from rival TMC factions adds another layer to the contest. The internal dispute within the Trinamool Congress has already reached the Election Commission, with rival factions contesting the party’s organisational identity and election symbol.

The developments surrounding the bypoll therefore extend beyond a conventional contest between political parties. The election is also taking place against the backdrop of a fractured TMC organisation and competing claims over the party’s future.

Congress-TMC Relationship Remains Complicated

The reported Nandigram proposal also highlights the complicated relationship between the TMC and Congress in West Bengal.

The two parties were once allies in the state during the political transition that eventually ended the Left Front’s 34-year rule in 2011. Their relationship subsequently deteriorated, and the parties went their separate ways.

At the national level, however, political circumstances brought the two parties into the broader opposition alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. That cooperation did not result in a comparable electoral arrangement between the TMC and Congress in West Bengal, where competition between the two organisations continued.

The differences between the parties have remained particularly visible at the state level, where Congress has attempted to preserve and rebuild its own political organisation.

The latest controversy over the alleged Nandigram proposal once again brings those differences into focus.

Rejinagar Adds Another Dimension

The reported proposal was not limited to Nandigram. According to Bhattacharya’s account, the arrangement would have involved the TMC contesting Rejinagar while Congress took up the Nandigram contest.

Rejinagar, located in Murshidabad district, has a different political and demographic profile from Nandigram. The seat fell vacant after Aam Janata Unnayan Party MLA Humayun Kabir decided to retain Naoda, another constituency he had won.

The TMC’s reported interest in concentrating on Rejinagar rather than Nandigram would have represented a different electoral strategy, particularly given the party’s recent political difficulties.

However, because the TMC has denied making the proposal, the precise nature of any communication between the parties remains disputed.

A Test for Bengal’s Opposition Politics

The controversy comes at a time when the political balance in West Bengal is undergoing significant change. The TMC is dealing with an internal split, while the Congress is attempting to expand its organisational presence.

For Congress, an independent contest allows the party to test its own support base rather than enter into an arrangement with a party that has historically competed with it for much of the same political space.

For the TMC, the Nandigram bypoll carries particular significance because of the constituency’s connection with Banerjee’s political history and the party’s earlier battles with the BJP and Left.

The October 6 bypoll will therefore be closely watched not only for its result but also for what it reveals about the future political relationships among the TMC, Congress, BJP and the rival TMC faction.

For now, however, the alleged outreach remains contested. A Congress leader has described a proposal involving Nandigram and Rejinagar, while the TMC has rejected the claim. The disagreement leaves the question of whether a formal electoral proposal was actually made unresolved.