New Delhi, Dec 24 State Assembly elections in 2026 are poised to witness an alliance among Opposition ranks across a 2,000-km distance against bitter contest elsewhere with each other, marking a definite uneasy campaign in convincing voters against perceived incoherence.
The parties would be re-living the phrase “a foe in one shadow, an ally in another light” between Kerala and West Bengal, with the Left, Congress, and the Trinamool Congress forming a combination as per regional permutation.
Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) at its helm, is traditionally pitted against the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
About three months ahead of the Assembly polls, the UDF this week has decided to expand its base by adding three more political parties, including the Trinamool.
In West Bengal, meanwhile, the CPI(M)-led Left Front is in alliance with the Congress against the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress. However, the partners are yet to officially confirm their position for next year’s poll.
Incidentally, the Trinamool Congress stormed West Bengal’s red bastion in 2011 in alliance with the Congress. Much water has flown down the Hooghly River since then.
Since Mamata Banerjee consolidated power, Trinamool has preferred to plough the poll and political furrow by itself in West Bengal. This has created a three-way contest among the Trinamool, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Left-Congress alliance, where the last has seen substantive erosion in its mandate.
Meanwhile, in Kerala, the state’s politics largely remain bipolar between the LDF and UDF, with the BJP making significant inroads of late. The perceived incoherence from selective poll understanding is likely to reduce electors’ trust, where the visible fights – mostly acerbic – in one place will invariably raise questions over their ability to govern collectively elsewhere.
When parties trade accusations publicly, it signals weak coalition discipline and lowers confidence in the opposition’s capacity to offer a credible alternative in another state.
Regional identity has always trumped national alliances in West Bengal, where, despite being among the founder-members of the Opposition’s INDIA Bloc platform, Mamata Banerjee has kept the national partners Left and Congress at bay.
On the other hand, the longstanding ideological rivalry between the Left and Congress in Kerala makes tactical cooperation feel transactional rather than principled. Now with the Trinamool’s entry in the fray, voters may question the dichotomy and doubt the durability of alliances.
In the Bihar elections earlier, there were marked rifts among Opposition Mahagathbandhan partners over seat distribution and poll slogans.
Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) failed to find a place on the platform despite repeated forays.
Even the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which rules the neighbouring state along with other Mahagathbandhan partners, faced the same humiliation.
It had to withdraw from the fray and leave Bihar in a huff. The issue now hangs fire over the future of the Jharkhand government, with JMM leaders implying a similar parting of ways with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress at the local level.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s slogan of “vote chori” against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls did not find traction among partners, especially the principal component, RJD.
Post-poll, allies have reportedly indulged in blame games too. Against such a background, a regional alliance of convenience may not augur too well with the partners involved in a bitter political rivalry elsewhere.
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