ROBIN ROY
Even as a defiant Mam ata Banerjee had re fused to give up follow ing the massive mandate that was given to the BJP, alleging that the BJP-led Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) had orchestrat ed the “loot of votes” to seal the fate of the TMC… the fiery Mamata while reaching out to the Opposition INDIA alliance also signalled her plan to return to her role as a “street fighter Opposition leader”. “I am now a free bird. I was on the streets once and I will be there again,” the TMC su premo declared. It may be recalled that the TMC’s tally in the new House had plunged to 80 (as against the BJP’s 207) from 215 in 2021 (as against the BJP’s 77), the party still has a sig nificant number of MPs both in the Lok Sabha (29) and the Rajya Sabha (13). All said and done, Mamata will face an uphill task in her bid to boost the fortunes of the TMC. Massive blow With the Bhabanipur vic tory, Suvendu has appeared as a massive Giant Killer managing to defeat Mama ta Banerjee back-to-back in two consecutive Assembly polls. A massive feat. Like in 2021, Mamata, this time too, lost her own seat from the bastion Bhabanipur in South Kolkata to her former aide and key BJP face Suvendu Adhikari by a decent margin. Suvendu had also defeated her in 2021 from his home turf, Nandigram. Before the 2026 elections, the TMC saw a transition from a personality-driv en leadership to a perfor mance-based model.
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This transition has not gone down well with the old-timers of the party. With several TMC minis ters and party stalwarts los ing the elections, including Chandrima Bhattacharya, Shashi Panja, Arup Biswas, Sujit Bose and Bratya Basu… the morale of the party is at an all-time low. Abhishek factor Once referred to as “bhaipo” (nephew), Ab hishek Banerjee had, through control over the or ganisation, earned the tag of “senapati”. Over 70 sitting TMC MLAs were dropped or shifted, and a large pool of new faces was introduced under the guid ing principle of performance over patronage, a major break from the party’s tradi tional template of accommo dating and localised power centres. Young Abhishek had hoped that the electorate which was already aware of the anti-incumbency and corruption factors would go by the news faces and fresh blood… however, for a party that thrived on an excellent network and calibrated un derstanding of the voters’ mood… this was anything but course correction.
And this was evident on May 4 when one after the other TMC leader failed to yield the desired results as they lacked the grassroots connect which was once upon a time was the prized possession of the TMC. TMC with allegations rang ing from recruitment scams to leakages in welfare deliv ery, had already dented the party’s credibility. To top it all, the anti-incumbency factor was weighing heavily on the party’s fortunes. Trailer of the same was ev ident in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections which revealed the party’s erosion in the urban base. Post May 4 results, for Ab hishek it will be seen how he resurrects the party. For now, TMC has lost a golden run and for Abhishek, it means the beginning of perhaps the most arduous and bumpy ride ever of his career. Party heartburn After the poll drubbing, Mamata had convened a meeting of her newly elected MLAs at her residence in Kol kata’s Kalighat area. Apart from discussing the party’s future course of action, the meeting was called to boost the MLAs’ morale. However, according to grapevine, at least 10 MLAs skipped the meeting, who in cluded Byron Biswas elected from Sagardighi. Biswas had created ripples post the 2021 As sembly polls when he won a lone seat for the Congress from Sagardighi surprising the media too. Biswas, how ever, did not last in the Con gress for long… soon after his win from Sagardighi he had switched over to the TMC de serting the Congress. Meanwhile, a senior TMC leader claimed: “Mamata and the party leadership had asked those MLAs not to come for the meeting in view of post-poll violence happen ing in their constituencies.” He, however, also said, “Our party chief is desper ately trying to ensure that the party remains united af ter this defeat but we are not sure how many of our lead ers will stand by us after six months or one year.” The TMC also has to deal with internal dissent which a section of party leaders have already voiced. TMC fall In this election, the BJP’s vote share rose sharply to 45.8% from about 38% in 2021, while the TMC’s votes plunged to 40.8% from near ly 48%. TMC is a party that rose from the grassroots and hence the party at one point of time had churned out lead ers which were the strength of the party. Leaders such as Mukul Roy, Suvendu (then in TMC) and Partha Chatterjee were not just political figures but the party’s organisation al pillars, who had carefully crafted the network, man aged local dynamics and ensured victory in electoral terms. However, many old-timers feel that the party after the old and young tug-of-war has lost that cream. And with the corporatisation of the par ty… thanks to the presence of IPAC, the party was fast los ing its grassroots base, the old-timers felt.
Litmus test After the Assembly polls’ bitter loss, TMC’s organisa tional presence will be tested in the upcoming civic body and panchayat elections to be held in 2027 and 2028 re spectively. However, with the current scenario, it seems that the TMC has lost a lot of steam. Political violence Soon after the polls, the state was rocked by post poll violence following the BJP’s victory. It took a more serious turn recently when Chandranath Rath, Suven du’s executive assistant, was shot dead by motorcy cle-borne assailants. Cases galore What is also worrying the TMC top brass is the fact that a lot of senior TMC lead ers have been facing vari ous corruption cases being probed by the ED, CBI and In come-Tax departments. The TMC now fears that these agencies might step on gas and accelerate the probes. (Robin Roy is a Senior Journalist and former Sen ior Associate Editor, O Heraldo, Goa)
