Kolkata/New Delhi The Trinamool leadership on Monday offered to withdraw its candidate from the Nandigram bypoll in favour of the Congress candidate, expecting a quid pro quo from Congress in the Rejinagar constituency, but did not get a favourable response.Trinamool seniors and the state Congress unit in Kolkata did not want to comment on record on the Trinamool offer and the Congress rejection, but those in the know said Trinamool chief and former Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had expressed her “irritation and anguish” over the lack of a favourable response.Trinamool on Sunday declared its candidates for both bypolls, fielding Sanchita De Pradhan from Nandigram and Rabiul Alam Chowdhury from Rejinagar. The Nandigram seat fell vacant after CM Suvendu Adhikari decided to keep Bhowanipore and leave Nandigram (he had contested both seats in the assembly election and won both). The Rejinagar bypoll was necessitated by AUJP MLA Humayun Kabir resigning. Both bypolls are scheduled for Oct 6.Trinamool seniors on Monday evening said “the top leadership” had made the first call to a general secretary-level central Congress functionary and made the Nandigram-Rejinagar offer. The Trinamool organisation has been in an amount of disarray following the May poll defeat and its senior leadership, including general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, has been subjected to repeated attacks and barracking. Many seniors, including former ministers and MLAs, are behind bars, with both state police and central agencies pursuing cases aggressively.In such a situation, many in the Trinamool brass felt, fighting BJP in Adhikari’s lair — Nandigram — would not make much sense beyond making a political point. Leaving the fight to Congress could also have been a signal that it was open to future dialogue on an alliance with Congress in Bengal.Conversely, minority-dominated Rejinagar is a constituency where BJP may not be on such a strong wicket. Putting up a semblance of a fight would have been easier from this seat in Murshidabad than from a seat in East Midnapore, CM Adhikari’s home district.There were discussions in Congress about the Trinamool offer, seniors in Kolkata said, but there was feedback that ground-level Congress workers might not be open to any deal with Trinamool so soon after the assembly poll; Congress was — before the 2026 election season — a target for Trinamool and the state administration as were other opposition parties.Congress sources said that the argument was that the party is looking to rebuild its base after its complete decimation over the last decade, and a tie-up now would neutralise this process. “It’s a local party decision,” the sources said, when asked about the absence of an alliance between Congress and TMC despite the aggression being shown by BJP, which recently came to office.A senior leader said there is otherwise complete coordination between TMC and Congress, and the latter is firmly with the Mamata Banerjee outfit when it comes to taking on BJP over misuse of state power against its rivals, adding that the partnership is also evident in Parliament. “But these are by-elections; it is a very local affair. The local unit makes such decisions,” he added.The absence of coordination in Bengal seems to be the reason that Trinamool has also fielded a candidate in the Lok Sabha by-election for Nagaon constituency in Assam. While Congress is in a direct fight with BJP that recently stormed back to power with a massive tally in Assam, TMC’s joining the contest threatens to make it a triangular fight. Significantly, it has fielded a Muslim candidate, which can damage the prospects of the “secular ally”.
