CPI(M) says TMC 'melting faster than ice', eyes opposition space in Bengal

Claiming that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is “melting faster than ice” in the summer heat, the CPI(M) has expressed confidence that it can occupy the opposition space in BJP-ruled West Bengal vacated by the Mamata Banerjee-led party.

CPI(M) West Bengal state secretary Mohammed Salim said the Left, especially his party, was already at the “forefront” of confronting its ideological adversaries, the RSS and BJP, in the state. “And now, since the Trinamool Congress is melting faster than ice in this heat, it is our task now not only theoretically but also practically to be the primary opposition to the BJP in West Bengal,” Salim told PTI in an interview.

“It is difficult but not impossible to retrieve the Left ecosystem in West Bengal and to be at the forefront of the people's struggles for their democratic and Constitutional rights,” he said.

Salim asserted that not only the CPI(M) but also the people of West Bengal were hopeful that the CPI(M)-led Left Front would take over the opposition mantle from the TMC. He alleged that over 15 years of TMC rule, marked by the use of “police and goons”, had created conditions that allowed the RSS to expand its influence in rural Bengal.

The CPI(M) has repeatedly accused the TMC and BJP of fostering a political binary centred around religion to sideline the Left and other opposition forces in the state.

Arguing that the TMC was disintegrating after its poor showing in the recently concluded assembly elections, Salim said the Left parties would step in to fill the political vacuum.

The TMC, led by Mamata Banerjee, had ended the Left Front’s uninterrupted 34-year rule in West Bengal in 2011, riding on anti-land acquisition movements in Singur and Nandigram.

Ironically, industrialisation, infrastructure development and job creation featured prominently in the 2026 Assembly election campaign agendas of both the Left and the BJP, alongside issues such as law and order, women’s safety, alleged “syndicate raj” and extortion.

Salim said Left parties and trade unions had already begun raising concerns over the displacement of hawkers evicted from various locations since the BJP came to power in the state, accusing the ruling party of targeting the livelihoods of the poorest sections. He said the CPI(M) would continue to campaign on issues including minority safety, Bengal’s cultural identity and communal harmony.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front, which governed West Bengal from 1977 to 2011, ended its prolonged electoral drought in the Assembly polls held on 23 and 29 April by winning the Domkal seat in Murshidabad district.

Despite securing just 4.45 per cent of the vote share in the recent elections, according to Election Commission data, the CPI(M) has said it remains undeterred. None of the other Left Front constituents crossed the one per cent mark.

In contrast, the Left Front had secured a 39 per cent vote share in 2011, with the CPI(M) alone accounting for 30 per cent. Its vote share had dropped to 4.73 per cent in the 2021 Assembly elections.

While the Left Front allied with the All India Secular Front (AISF) and CPI(ML) Liberation in this election, the Congress contested alone in all 294 constituencies. The Congress won two seats, while AISF retained Bhangar.

With PTI inputs