(MENAFN- IANS) Kolkata, Aug 9 (IANS) Confusion is brewing within the West Bengal Congress over its potential alliance or seat-sharing strategy for the 2026 assembly elections, amid clear signs that the party's central leadership -- including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi -- is drawing closer to the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The confusion deepened further after Rahul Gandhi met one-on-one with Trinamool Congress General Secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, earlier this week, where Banerjee reportedly briefed Gandhi about the issues that Trinamool Congress wished to highlight against the BJP and the Union government.

Now the central question troubling state Congress leaders is whether the party will continue its seat-sharing arrangement with the CPI(M)-led Left Front -- already going on since 2016 -- or switch to a new partnership with the TMC for the 2026 polls.

Officially, the state Congress President in West Bengal, Suvankar Sarkar, has said that whether at the national level or the state level, the final decision of alliance or seat-sharing agreement ultimately rests with the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

“There is no instruction from AICC on the issue as yet. The decision taken by AICC will be final,” he said.

However, a senior leader from the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPPC) and a former party legislator, said on condition of anonymity that an alliance with Trinamool Congress will mean that the state unit of Congress would be left at the mercy of West Bengal's ruling party.

“We will have no bargaining position on seat sharing, and state Congress will have to remain satisfied with whatever little is offered by the Trinamool Congress leadership. Exactly that was our experience both in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and 2011 West Bengal assembly elections, when we had to accept whatever little was offered to us by Trinamool Congress,” he said.

According to him, since the 2016 West Bengal assembly elections, Congress has always been in a comfortable bargaining position with the CPI(M)-led Left Front.

Another senior state Congress leader expressed apprehension that an understanding with Trinamool Congress would invariably mean further erosion in Congress's vote percentage in the state.

“In that case, the anti-Trinamool Congress section among dedicated Congress voters will either opt for the BJP or the Left Front. The possibility of dedicated Congress leaders and workers defecting to the BJP could not be ruled out,” he said.

According to him, Congress's vote percentage share in West Bengal in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls was a paltry 4.72 per cent.“Now it is to be seen how much the figure will erode after the 2026 assembly polls in case of an understanding with the Trinamool Congress,” he added.

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