As TMC merger speculation grows amid internal turmoil, Congress is unlikely to replace Mallikarjun Kharge with Mamata Banerjee as Rajya Sabha Opposition leader New Delhi: After suffering a crushing setback in the West Bengal Assembly elections, Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee is reportedly facing mounting political challenges. With defections among legislators and parliamentarians, resignations by Rajya Sabha members, and growing speculation about the future of

AI generated image New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with her nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee, is facing a series of political setbacks, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to consolidate its position both in West Bengal and at the national level. The BJP is working to strengthen the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in both Houses of Parliament before the 2027 Budget Session, enabling it to pa

Barely a month after the BJP’s historic landslide ended 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule, Mamata Banerjee’s once-invincible party is rapidly disintegrating into a spectacle of opportunism, defections and panic. The speed of the collapse has been breathtaking. The first crack appeared in the Assembly last week when 58 TMC legislators openly defied the party line and backed rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee’s claim to the post of Leader of the Opposition. The revolt was a publ

While democracy needs a credible opposition, it is not the BJP’s responsibility to create one. Elections in India since 2014 have increasingly generated an engaging debate- the “lack” of a political opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Barring a few setbacks, especially the 2024 general elections, most electoral contests since 2014 have recorded a steady and spectacular march of the BJP. The post-West Bengal iteration of this debate has an even graver existentiali

Assam and West Bengal signalled a broader political shift: traditional regional loyalties no longer guarantee voter allegiance. The political landscape of eastern India has undergone a profound transformation over the past decade, culminating in significant electoral victories for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in states like Assam and, to a more complex extent, its rise as a dominant challenger in West Bengal. These developments are not isolated electoral outcomes but refl

The 2026 Assembly poll results have shown that India’s voters are shifting from familiarity to aspiration by rewarding those leaders and parties who promise a credible path to the future. Something significant has shifted in Indian politics, and we are still trying to explain it using the comfort of old ideas. For decades, we believed elections in India were won on the strength of grassroots connection. The party that knew the people best, that walked their streets, spoke the

The keenly-contested state elections in four states and a union territory witnessed mandates that have taken a tectonic turn in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The voters here have delivered verdicts that have completely upended entrenched narratives and redrawn the Indian political map with unusual force. The most dramatic upheaval unfolded in West Bengal, where the Bharatiya Janata Party pulled off what once seemed improbable: dislodging Mamata Banerjee and her All Indi

Exit polls, like monsoon forecasts, are best treated with scepticism. India’s recent electoral history is littered with confident projections that dissolved on counting day. Yet even allowing for their fallibility, the latest round of projections across four states and one Union Territory offers some clear indications of churn in the east, cautious continuity in the south and consolidation in the north-east. The most keenly contested and eagerly watched state is West Bengal,

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee holds a child on the occassion of Eid al-Fitr in Kolkata on Saturday. New Delhi: In the West Bengal assembly elections, issues of illegal infiltration and freebies are set to dominate the discourse. The BJP is weaving its strategy around infiltration, while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has countered by branding the 'Special Intensive Revision' (SIR) as the first phase of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). In this race, the TMC