The INDIA bloc seems dead and buried in West Bengal with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) declaring candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. At the outset, Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee has taken a big gamble to go alone in the general elections, where her party’s primary opponent is the BJP. In less than a decade, the BJP has replaced the CPM as the main opposition party and has been registering spectacular gains. In the 2019 elections, it won 18 seats with over 40 percent votes, just three percent less than the votes polled by the TMC, which won 22 seats. An alliance with the Left Front and the Congress could have given some cushion to the TMC, especially in north Bengal. The TMC has further alienated INDIA block parties by deciding to field cricketer Yusuf Pathan against senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhary.
The decision of the TMC to go solo has the possibility to hurt the INDIA bloc in the coming elections. The Congress and Left parties are now expected to field candidates. This will cut the votes of INDIA bloc. The BJP is expected to gain from it. The saffron party is aggressively campaigning in West Bengal and is making every effort to increase its tally in the coming Lok Sabha elections. The central leadership is also investing resources and time in the state. It will be interesting to see how much the decision of the TMC to go solo will hurt INDIA in the coming election.