Did Mamata Banerjee reach out to Congress? A Nandigram ‘offer’ and a denial

A senior Congress leader in West Bengal claimed that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had reached out to its central leadership with an offer to contest the Nandigram Assembly constituency in the upcoming bypoll, instead of the TMC. However, the TMC denied this claim, stating that no such offer was made. The Congress high command sought the opinions of several senior leaders in Bengal, and there was a consensus among them against any alliance with the TMC.

They argued that the TMC was in disarray and that backing the party would be counterproductive. The BJP has named Hasirani Rath as its candidate for the Nandigram bypoll, while the TMC has fielded Mohammad Eteshamul Haque and the Congress candidate is Milan Pradhan. The bypoll is necessary after Mamata Banerjee lost to Suvendu Adhikari by a narrow margin in the 2021 state election.