New Delhi: Ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, deepening factionalism within the Congress party and rising questions over its leadership have created a serious crisis for the organization. In strategically important states like Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, voices of dissent within the party are growing louder. Statements by senior leaders and increasing tensions with alliance partners have left the party high command sleepless.
In Kerala, a recent statement by senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has put the party in an uncomfortable position. Aiyar predicted that the LDF government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would return to power for a third consecutive term. Although the party has distanced itself from his remarks, Aiyar has stood by his position. He argued that as a Congressman he wants the UDF to win, but as a Gandhian he is bound to speak the truth. Kerala’s politics has traditionally seen a change of power every five years, a trend that Vijayan broke in 2021. Now, Aiyar’s comment has dealt a major blow to Congress’s hopes of returning to power.
Meanwhile, the situation in Assam is also far from normal. The resignation of state Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah exposed the intense infighting within the party. Borah alleged that the central leadership was ignoring him and that he was not being given due respect in the state unit. Expressing dissatisfaction over decisions such as the Behali episode and the Majuli visit, he had sent his resignation to Mallikarjun Kharge. However, after Rahul Gandhi’s intervention, he withdrew his resignation. Still, the neglect of Muslim leaders and internal differences within the party persist. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has mocked the developments, calling it a deepening crisis for Congress.
In Tamil Nadu, the biggest challenge for Congress is to preserve its alliance with the ruling DMK. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has made it clear that there will be no power-sharing after the elections. He has described Congress’s demand for more seats and a share in the government as a conspiracy. Warnings from leaders like Manickam Tagore and the emergence of actor Vijay’s new party have further complicated the state’s political equations. For Rahul Gandhi, the risk of this alliance breaking has become the biggest headache, as without the DMK, Congress’s position in Tamil Nadu could become extremely weak.
In West Bengal, two major constituents of the INDIA alliance, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress, are completely at odds. Mamata Banerjee has announced that she will go it alone in the 2026 assembly elections, choosing to fight independently. In response, Congress has decided to field candidates on all 294 seats in the state. Parties that speak of alliance at the national level appear to be staunch rivals at the state level. Amid all these circumstances, the BJP has taken a dig, saying that if the party’s own leaders do not trust the leadership, how can the public place its faith in them?
