BENGAL'S POLITICAL BATTLE INTENSIFIES AS SUVENDU ADHIKARI ALLEGES TMC–CPI(M) UNDERSTANDING

October 31, 2026

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has accused the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress of joining hands to restore what he described as a period of political anarchy in the state. Addressing a 'Save Democracy' public meeting at Garbeta in Paschim Medinipur on Saturday, Adhikari alleged that the growing proximity between CPI(M) general secretary M. A. Baby and former chief minister Mamata Banerjee indicated a political understanding between the two parties. He claimed that the CPI(M) was attempting to regain its political influence by taking advantage of divisions within the Trinamool Congress following the West Bengal Assembly elections.

The chief minister also threatened to reopen criminal cases associated with the 2007 Nandigram violence and the 2001 Choto Angaria massacre. Referring to the Nandigram anti-land acquisition agitation, he alleged that individuals connected with an armed attack had travelled from the CPI(M)'s Garbeta office. He further referred to those accused in the Choto Angaria massacre, in which Trinamool Congress supporters were killed, declaring that nobody involved would be spared. Adhikari also criticised CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Salim over his recent remarks concerning resistance to an alleged BJP attack in Garbeta.

Highlighting his government's six months in office since May, Adhikari cited the BJP's electoral victories in the Rejinagar and Nandigram by-elections and the Falta repoll. He predicted significant defeats for the CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress in the forthcoming Kolkata and Howrah civic elections. He additionally highlighted measures concerning international border security, cooperation with central welfare programmes, increased remuneration for various categories of workers and higher dearness allowance for state government employees. His remarks have brought the political relationship between the CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress, alongside Bengal's history of political violence, back into the centre of the state's political debate