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Published : 10 Jun 2026, 10:46 PM
Trinamool Congress (TMC) General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee has met with India’s Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi amid efforts to strengthen coordination within the opposition INDIA bloc, reports NDTV.
The meeting was held in the Indian capital of New Delhi on Wednesday, lasting one and a half hours.
The TMC said it wants a strong alliance and accepts Rahul's leadership in the opposition bloc.
Rahul’s party, the Indian National Congress, said any proposal for a merger must come from the TMC and that it is “not pushing” for such a move, according to NDTV.
On Tuesday, TMC chief and former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee met with Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Photographs of the meeting were widely circulated, with the TMC describing it on X as a sign of a “long-standing bond”.
The latest TMC-Congress meeting between Rahul and Abhishek is part of ongoing contacts between the two parties following the bloc's recent gathering.
The two leaders emphasised greater coordination and unity to challenge the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which came to power in the TMC’s once-stronghold West Bengal in May, ending its 15-year rule under Mamata.
Hinting at the romoured merger plan, West Bengal Congress chief Subhankar Sarkar said: "Politics is the art of possibilities. So, anything can happen tomorrow."
Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP leader Priyanka Tibrewal slated Rahul and Abhishek, describing their meeting as "one yuvraj (crown prince) meeting another".
"Where is their self-esteem? Just for power, they can do anything, hug anyone, be friends or de-friend anybody. I simply don't understand that. If it is raining, you look for an umbrella which can give you shelter,” Priyanka was quoted as saying by NDTV.
“But Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, and the Congress, do not even have a roof over their heads. What kind of shelter are they going to provide?".
The meetings took place amid revolt within Mamata’s party since her setback in the polls, with a majority of the party’s 80 MLAs already floating a separate group led by Ritabrata Banerjee as the Opposition leader in the state assembly.
On Wednesday, another TMC leader Sushmita Dev resigned as a Rajya Sabha (upper house of Indian parliament) lawmaker and also from the party, NDTV said.
Sushmita, who joined TMC in 2021 after quitting the Congress, is believed to be joining the BJP as she met Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma soon after her resignation.
