New Delhi, Sep 18 (AHN) West Bengal is among the few states that have been the graveyard of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) from the time the bloc came into being. However, the Left and the Congress together have been trying for some time to win a few seats, but have largely failed.

This, despite the fact that they stand at political loggerheads in Kerala. Whether in Parliamentary, or Assembly, INDIA bloc did not ever stand together, though the state’s ruling party – Trinamool Congress (TMC) – chairperson Mamata Banerjee is among its founder-leaders.

She is also said to be the brain behind coining the acronym. Recently, Congress general secretary in-charge of West Bengal Ghulam Ahmed Mir has again proved it.

In an oblique reference to the TMC, he alleged earlier this week that a party has struck deals with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to shield its leaders in corruption cases being investigated by Central agencies.

Coming from Mir, it was no surprise, from the time he assumed charge of West Bengal – when asked about an alliance – he has been speaking about the state unit of his party maintaining a distance from both the TMC as well as the Left.

However, it marks a difference in the Congress strategy in West Bengal. Last year, when the Grand Old Party replaced veteran Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury with Subhankar Sarkar as the Pradesh Congress Committee president, it was seen as a softening of stance against Mamata Banerjee.

State Congress leaders admitted in private that Sarkar will not be as much a TMC critic as Chowdhury. More so, he was acceptable to all factions in the state unit, since he was not as aggressive as his predecessor.

On occasions, claim sources, Mamata Banerjee -- who maintains a good relation with Sonia Gandhi -- has complained to the Congress matriarch about Chowdhury’s biting remarks.

Thus, the change at top was perceived as a shift in alignment. Since then, there have been unconfirmed reports of some Congress members urging for a political alliance with the TMC.

The Congress is facing the devil’s alternative. On the one side is the Left, against whom it has raised numerous complaints of atrocities and subjugation through the almost three-decade rule of the Communists.

Stories still float about Chowdhury’s armed heroics against the Marxists in his home district of Murshidabad. However, facing a total rout in the state, desperate attempts at political survival made most Congress leaders reach a compromise.

As a result, not as many votes of its workers translated into a mandate for the Left partners as it did the other way round.

On the other side is the TMC, born out of its fold and going on to achieve what it could not – storm the red bastion.

On the way, without a grassroot leader and sans a winning strategy, the Grand Old Party was on its way to extinction.

Now, when the state is expecting elections around March-April next year, will the Congress tread the path that Rabindranath Tagore famously composed, “If none responds to your call, walk ahead alone”?

To repeat a cliche: that time will tell.