Kolkata: The early months of the Adhikari administration in West Bengal are witnessing a recalibration of political alliances that is prompting questions within BJP ranks about the direction of the state’s promised paribartan. The growing public and private engagement between the state government and prominent breakaway groups from the Trinamool Congress has unsettled some party workers who expected a clearer break with the old establishment.
Cross-party courtesies raise eyebrows
Two strands are central to the unfolding realignment. One is the “rebel but majority” grouping of MLAs associated with Assembly Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, whose supporters have been received at the State Secretariat. The other is a Lok Sabha contingent of 20 former Trinamool MPs who have reorganised under the banner of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and are publicly leaning towards cooperation with the NDA.
Delegations from Ritabrata Banerjee’s camp have met state authorities, and NCPI MPs have been active in seeking administrative interventions on constituency matters. That public proximity — even where formal allegiance to the NDA is not declared — has prompted BJP cadres to question whether the new establishment is really turning the page on the Trinamool led-era or merely recasting familiar faces into fresh roles.
National outreach and political optics
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted around 45 newly aligned NDA MPs for a breakfast meeting at his residence. The event included the entire NCPI grouping, an interaction that NCPI leaders described in positive terms. Jagdish Basunia, an NCPI leader, said the meeting showed an inclusive approach, remarking that the Prime Minister had framed the gathering as part of a wider NDA family.
“We are all part of the NDA family. Let’s work together for public welfare, the way the NDA works,”
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, another NCPI MP, told reporters the delegation felt “overwhelmed” and recalled the Prime Minister’s message about unity across long-standing and newer NDA members. While NCPI leaders portrayed the reception as a sign of constructive engagement, the optics have fed into a debate among rank-and-file BJP workers in Bengal about the party’s strategy and ideological boundaries.
Ambiguity from the breakaway leadership
Ritabrata Banerjee has maintained a studied ambiguity about formal alignments. Asked about NCPI’s association with the NDA, he emphasised organisational independence, saying the NCPI is a separate party formed by former Trinamool leaders and that their decisions were internal matters.
That posture — cooperation without formal merger — has allowed the Adhikari government to accommodate demands for constituency support while keeping a degree of distance from overt coalition politics. Yet this middle ground is a strain point for BJP cadres who campaigned on a narrative of decisive change from the Trinamool era.
- Key stakeholders: Ritabrata Banerjee’s rebel MLA grouping; NCPI’s 20 former TMC MPs; state BJP cadres and the Adhikari government.
- High-profile outreach: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s breakfast meeting with about 45 newly aligned NDA MPs, attended by the NCPI bloc.
- Core issue: Tension between political pragmatism — securing administrative cooperation and constituency redressal — and rank-and-file expectations for a clearer break from Trinamool networks.
What this means for Bengal politics
The immediate result is a fraught environment in which local party labourers judge leadership choices by both practical outcomes and symbolic fidelity. For the Adhikari government, engaging with former Trinamool figures who now seek clients for their constituencies may deliver short-term administrative benefits and smoother implementation in certain districts. For the BJP’s grassroots, however, such engagements risk diluting the moral clarity of the BJP’s earlier campaign promises that framed paribartan as a decisive transfer of trust away from the Trinamool establishment.
| Group | Character | Current stance |
|---|---|---|
| Ritabrata Banerjee’s MLAs | Rebel but majority faction | Seeking engagement with state administration |
| NCPI | 20 former TMC Lok Sabha MPs | Regrouped; cooperating with NDA without formal merger |
As the state administration completes its initial 100-day window, these alignments will be watched closely for their effects on governance, local administration and the BJP’s organisational morale across districts from Kolkata to the mofussil. Whether the current approach evolves into formal alliances or remains a tactical accommodation will be a central question in Bengal’s continuing political recalibration.
Reporting from Kolkata.
