Cong fights for political existence in WB

"This Lok Sabha election will prove that without the Congress, the Trinamool Congress too won't be able to make any mark against the Left as it is the combined vote share of the two parties that catapulted Mamata Banerjee to power," Bhattacharya, MP, pointed out. The Congress lost its pre-eminent position on the Bengal stage after it was humbled in the 1977 Assembly poll by the Left Front. People became disenchanted with the party which was riven by dissension and squabbling. It reached a climax when Youth Congress chief Mamata Banerjee broke away to form her own party Trinamool Congress in 1998, dealing a body blow to the organisation.

A major chunk of the anti-Left votes was garnered by the TMC which became the principal opposition party. It ultimately ousted the Left Front from power in 2011 riding on the deftly-organised anti-land acquisition movement. Ironically, the state Congress suffered further erosion in its credibility when the Left supported the Congress-led UPA government.

Its strength was reduced to such an extent that it ceased to exist politically in south Bengal and managed to retain its position in the north Bengal districts of Malda, Murshidabad and some pockets in the region.