Rahul Gandhi urges Congress to form independent alliances

Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, discussed the possibility of an alliance for Congress in Bengal during a meeting with party leaders on Wednesday. He suggested that Congress could consider forming an alliance, but only on its own terms. However, most senior leaders in Bengal prefer to run independently in the 2026 assembly elections. They believe the party should not rely on alliances, especially after seeing the poor performance in recent elections. Gandhi listened to the input of all 31 Bengal Congress members at the meeting. He encouraged them to focus on a specific community or issue to build support. Gandhi used the example of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, which chose to contest elections independently and faced significant losses when it did not partner with Congress. The Congress party has struggled in Bengal, having been out of power for nearly fifty years. In the last assembly elections in 2021, they received only 3% of the votes and won just one seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Gandhi emphasized the need for the party to strengthen its base over time by addressing issues that matter to the people.