Congress, TMC prepare to be frenemies to stall BJP's chances in WB in 2019

During the recent Sabong bypoll Manas Bhunia, the sitting Congress legislator from the seat, had quit to join the TMC and his wife Gita Rani contested and won

The result of the Sabong assembly bypoll in West Bengal is encouraging for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party ended a creditable third with a much improved vote share, which indicates its continued surge in Bengal.

But a closer reading of the result reveals how multi-cornered contests might help BJP elsewhere in the country. In Bengal, it could mean the party failing to translate the anti-incumbency against the Mamata Banerjee government into seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The bypoll was necessitated after Manas Bhunia, the sitting Congress legislator from the seat, quit to join the Trinamool Congress. With the