Nandigram by-poll, a reset for Mamata and Congress ties

A lot happened over the past two days on Thursday (September 17, 2026) and Friday (September 18) that is likely to have a long bearing in West Bengal politics.

In the last hours on Thursday (September 17), the Election Commission of India froze the grass and twin flowers symbol and the name of All India Trinamool Congress. The Commission allocated separate symbols and names to both the rival factions of Trinamool Congress — the Mamata Banerjee faction and the Ritabrata Banerjee group. Mamata Banerjee and her loyalists were given the symbol of a football player alongside the name — Mamata All India Trinamool Congress, while the Ritabrata Banerjee faction was given the envelope symbol with the name — Democratic Trinamool Congress.

Congress backs Mamata

Even before Mamata Banerjee had formally reacted to the freezing of her party’s name and symbol, Congress leaders came to her defence. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi criticised the ECI, saying the issue is not just Mamata Banerjee’s fight.

“It’s the fight of every political party, every voter who wants free and fair elections,” Mr. Gandhi posted on social media. The Congress leader said that when an entire party can be stolen, it’s hardly surprising that the votes of millions of Indians can be stolen too.

Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal also condemned the ECI’s decision and demanded that the party’s original symbol be restored to the Mamata Banerjee-led faction.

A withdrawal and an arrest

On Friday (September 18), as the Mamata Banerjee-led faction grappled with the loss of the original party name and symbol, its candidate for the Nandigram Assembly bypoll, Sanchita Pradhan (Dey), withdrew her candidature. Photographs of the candidate meeting West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari also surfaced on social media. With the deadline for filing nominations over, Mamata Banerjee announced her faction’s support for the Congress candidate, Milan Pradhan, in Nandigram. She also extended support to the Congress candidate in the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll in Assam.

However, within hours of Mamata Banerjee announcing support for Mr. Pradhan, the Congress candidate was arrested by the West Bengal Police in connection with an old case linked to the Nandigram land agitation. The arrest triggered strong reactions from both the Congress and the Trinamool Congress. Mamata Banerjee questioned the timing of the arrest, particularly after announcing support for the Congress candidate.

“The BJP’s politics of vendetta and atrocities show a clear pattern. With manipulation, with vote loot, with intimidation the Election Agency-BJP partnership is killing democracy every day,” the former Chief Minister wrote on social media.

Mr. Gandhi described the arrest as a political revenge and murder of democracy. “The BJP has no faith in fair elections—that’s why it wants to cling to power sometimes through vote theft, sometimes through stealing governments, and sometimes through stealing parties. They don’t want to contest elections; they want to end the electoral fight altogether. The Congress will neither fear nor bow down. We will fight — and we will win,” Mr. Gandhi posted on social media.

Mamata – Congress alliance

The Trinamool Congress has seemed to face an existential crisis after the BJP swept to power in the West Bengal Assembly elections — with the majority of its Lok Sabha MPs and MLAs deserting Mamata Banerjee.

There appears to be a vacuum in the Opposition space in the State. The emerging understanding between the Congress and Mamata Banerjee could reshape the Opposition’s strategy in West Bengal. Weeks earlier, Mamata Banerjee had proposed that the Congress support her faction’s candidate in Nandigram in return for her faction supporting the Congress candidate in Rejinagar.

The local Congress leadership has historically been sceptical of Mamata Banerjee, particularly over the period between 2011 and 2021, when the Trinamool Congress was in power and the Congress alleged that the party engineered defections and weakened its organisation in the State. The recent developments, however, have brought the two parties together, leaving the State Congress leadership to navigate its reservations alongside the changing political circumstances.

Almost 28 years ago, Mamata Banerjee broke away from the Congress to form the Trinamool Congress. Now, amid a crisis over her party’s identity and symbol, she is seeking Congress’s support.

Mamata Banerjee had allied with the Congress to defeat the 34-year rule of the Left Front in West Bengal in 2011. Nandigram, which played a key role in that political transition, is once again at the centre of the State’s politics with the upcoming bypoll.

The Nandigram Assembly bypoll has also become a politically significant contest for Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who had represented both Bhabanipur and Nandigram before giving up the latter constituency.