New Delhi, April 24: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday sharply reacted to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's fresh criticism of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal, calling it a 'late realisation'. Shah's remarks came in response to a video Gandhi posted on social media platform X, in which the Congress leader blamed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's governance for enabling the BJP's rise in the state.

'It has been realised very late,' Shah told IANS in Kolkata, delivering a pointed rebuke that encapsulates the broader contradictions within the Congress-TMC relationship — one defined by decades of political opportunism, broken alliances, and electoral miscalculations.

What Rahul Gandhi Said in His Video

In a 106-second video clip posted on Thursday, April 24, Rahul Gandhi criticised BJP's policies and governance in West Bengal while simultaneously taking aim at the Trinamool Congress. He urged voters in the state to back the Congress as a credible alternative.

'If Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had run a clean government and had not polarised Bengal, then the BJP would not have got a chance,' Gandhi stated in the video — a rare public acknowledgment by the Congress that the TMC's governance failures contributed to the BJP's electoral gains in the state.

The irony, as HM Shah pointedly noted, is that this criticism arrives years after the Congress itself enabled the Trinamool Congress to ascend to power and long after the damage to the opposition's electoral base in Bengal has already been done.

Congress and TMC: A Turbulent Political History

The relationship between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress is one of India's most complex and contradictory political partnerships. It was the Congress that provided critical support to the TMC in the landmark 2011 West Bengal Assembly elections, which ended the Left Front's uninterrupted 34-year rule in the state.

The alliance proved decisive. However, by 2013, the partnership had collapsed, and the Congress pivoted to align with its former rival, the Left Front. The two contested the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections together but failed to dislodge Mamata Banerjee, who retained power with an even stronger mandate each time.

Historically, the TMC had itself withdrawn from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2006 following electoral setbacks, before aligning with the Congress for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections after the Left Front withdrew support from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's Exit and Congress's Bengal Decline

A pivotal moment in the Congress's Bengal trajectory was the removal of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as Pradesh Congress Committee President in 2024. Chowdhury, known for his outspoken criticism of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, stepped down after losing the Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency — a seat he had held for five consecutive terms between 1999 and 2019.

Chowdhury had also served as the Congress leader in the 17th Lok Sabha, though the party lacked the numbers for formal recognition as the Leader of Opposition. He was among the most vocal proponents of a Congress-Left Front alliance to counter the TMC.

His successor, Subhankar Sarkar, adopted a more moderate approach, distancing the party from renewed alliance talks with the Communist Party of India (Marxist). This led to a multi-cornered contest in the state, fragmenting opposition votes and indirectly altering the balance between the BJP and the TMC.

Electoral Collapse and the 2024 Lok Sabha Results

The 2021 Assembly elections were a watershed moment for the Congress and the Left Front in West Bengal — both failed to win a single seat, marking their near-total collapse in the state. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections offered little relief, with the Congress managing to win only 1 seat out of 42 — the Malda constituency — in West Bengal.

This electoral decimation has left the Congress with minimal political capital in the state, making Rahul Gandhi's current criticism of the TMC appear more like a political repositioning exercise than a substantive challenge to Mamata Banerjee's dominance.

Amit Shah's Remark and Its Deeper Political Significance

HM Amit Shah's 'late realisation' jibe is more than just a political one-liner — it exposes the fundamental contradiction at the heart of the Congress's Bengal strategy. For over a decade, the party either allied with or remained ambivalent toward the TMC, allowing the BJP to position itself as the primary opposition in the state.

Critics argue that had the Congress adopted a consistent, principled opposition stance against the Trinamool Congress years earlier, the political landscape in West Bengal could have evolved very differently. Instead, shifting alliances and internal contradictions left a vacuum that the BJP effectively filled.

As West Bengal heads toward the next electoral cycle, Rahul Gandhi's renewed engagement with the state's politics will be closely watched. Whether this marks a genuine strategic reset for the Congress in Bengal or merely a belated attempt at relevance — as Amit Shah suggests — remains to be seen in the months ahead.