Kolkata

Despite repeated poll debacles since 2011, the CPI(M) is optimistic of an electoral turnaround in the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections, banking on its recently concluded statewide outreach programme, and has claimed that public resentment with the ruling TMC and the BJP is brewing.

CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said the "attempts by the TMC and the BJP to make the electoral contest bipolar will fail" as the people are "looking for a third alternative in the Left Front".

He asserted that the 1000-km 'Bangla Bachao Yatra' (Save Bengal Yatra), conducted in November-December last year, revived interest in the CPI(M)-led front.

Exuberant over the "good response" it got during the 20-day march across the length and breadth of Bengal, the party is still holding localised rallies in districts.

"There will definitely be an impact of the 'Bangla Bachao Yatra' in the coming elections. People are fed up with the TMC and the BJP. They are attempting to make the political atmosphere in Bengal a bipolar one between themselves to keep the Left parties at bay, but such a design will fail," Chakraborty claimed while talking to PTI.

The former CPI(M) Lok Sabha MP from Jadavpur constituency alleged that the Mamata Banerjee-led party had given the BJP a breathing space in Bengal.

Chakraborty said that the secular social fabric of Bengal would be destroyed if "mandir-masjid politics" takes over from issues like development, jobs, education, healthcare and other pressing matters.

The CPI(M) had organised the 'Bangla Bachao Yatra' from November 29, a statewide mobilisation it claimed would expose "injustice, loot and systematic democratic erosion" under the TMC's rule and take on the BJP-led Centre's "anti-people policies".

According to another party leader, the march is part of a political movement to "rescue democracy, people's voting rights, protect school education, healthcare, and save vulnerable families from the menace of micro-loans and lottery".

Chakraborty claimed, "Bangla Bachao Yatra is very relevant since the state, which was once the forerunner in education, culture, or struggle for independence against the British, is being destroyed under the TMC rule."

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh pooh-poohed Chakraborty's allegation and claimed that the CPI(M) has lost relevance in the state's political map.

"They should hold a 'CPI(M) bachao yatra' (save CPI(M) march)," he said.

Having ruled West Bengal uninterruptedly from 1977 to 2011, the Left has been pushed to the margins over the past decade.

It failed to open its account in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, losing the status of principal opposition to the BJP.

The TMC spokesperson, however, claimed that the Left party's supporters have gone to the BJP.

"It is the CPI(M) supporters who vote for the BJP in the elections," he told PTI, claiming that the Left's votes have been transferred to the saffron brigade in the state.

"The BJP's increase in vote share in Bengal is equal to the reduction of poll percentage of the CPI(M)," Ghosh claimed.

The Left Front secured 39 per cent of the vote polled in 2011, with the CPI(M) alone accounting for 30 per cent, while a decade later, in the 2021 assembly elections, the Left Front’s tally fell to just 4.73 per cent.

Asked about their opposition parties' claim that radical trade unionism during the Left rule from 1977 to 2011 led to the flight of industries from Bengal, Chakraborty said, "It is wrong that trade unionism brought down industries in the state; rather, organised trade unions can help industries."

Accusing the Mamata Banerjee-led party for the flight of Tata Motors from Singur in 2008, he said that while the Left Front had got the company to invest in Bengal for setting up its much-touted Nano car plant, it was the TMC which drove the Tatas out.

He claimed that the state had been brought to its knees during the TMC rule, alleging that what prevails in Bengal at present is "joblessness and corruption".

He claimed that the agriculture, industry and education sectors are suffering in the state.

"The recent mess over Lionel Messi's event is also an indicator of how things have gone wrong in the state," Chakraborty said.

Protests and chaos had taken place at the Salt Lake stadium here during the Argentine football legend Lionel Messi's programme in December, with a section of spectators going on a rampage at the venue, complaining that they could not have a glimpse of the star.

CPI(M) claims rising discontent with TMC, BJP; says voters seeking third option in Bengal

Kolkata, Jan 19: The CPI(M) has expressed confidence of staging an electoral revival in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, asserting that growing public dissatisfaction with both the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP is creating space for a “third alternative” led by the Left Front.

Senior CPI(M) leader and central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said attempts by the TMC and BJP to frame Bengal’s politics as a bipolar contest would not succeed, as people were increasingly disillusioned with both parties.

He said the party’s recently concluded 1,000-kilometre ‘Bangla Bachao Yatra’ had helped reconnect with voters across the state and revive interest in the CPI(M)-led alliance. The march, held between late November and December, traversed multiple districts and was followed by local-level rallies, he added.

“There will be a clear impact of the Bangla Bachao Yatra in the upcoming elections. People are tired of both the TMC and the BJP. Their effort to sideline the Left by projecting a two-party fight will fail,” Chakraborty told PTI.

The former Lok Sabha MP alleged that the TMC had indirectly facilitated the BJP’s growth in Bengal and warned that divisive politics centred on religious identity could damage the state’s secular ethos. He said issues such as employment, education, healthcare and development were being overshadowed.

According to CPI(M) leaders, the yatra aimed to highlight alleged corruption, democratic erosion and governance failures under the TMC government, while also opposing what the party described as anti-people policies of the BJP-led central government. The campaign also focused on concerns related to education, healthcare, microfinance debt and protection of voting rights.

Chakraborty claimed Bengal, once known for its leadership in education, culture and freedom struggle, was witnessing decline under the present regime. He alleged that unemployment, corruption and deterioration in key sectors such as agriculture, industry and education had become widespread.

Responding to the CPI(M)’s claims, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh dismissed the Left’s assertions, saying the party had lost political relevance in the state. He alleged that a significant section of CPI(M)’s traditional vote base had shifted to the BJP over the years.

“The CPI(M) should instead organise a ‘save CPI(M)’ campaign,” Ghosh remarked, adding that the rise in the BJP’s vote share corresponded to the decline of the Left’s electoral support.

The Left Front, which governed West Bengal from 1977 to 2011, has faced repeated electoral setbacks over the past decade. It failed to win a single seat in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections as well as the 2021 Assembly polls, losing its position as the principal opposition to the BJP. Its vote share dropped from 39 per cent in 2011 to under five per cent in the 2021 Assembly elections.

Rejecting criticism that militant trade unionism during Left rule drove industries out of Bengal, Chakraborty argued that organised labour helped, rather than harmed, industrial growth. He blamed the TMC for the exit of Tata Motors from Singur in 2008, claiming the Left Front had brought major industrial investment to the state.

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He also cited recent controversies, including disorder during an event linked to football icon Lionel Messi in December, as examples of administrative failure.