NEW DELHI, Feb 2026 : Four states – Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu – are scheduled to hold elections in April/May, handing the Congress four opportunities to begin 2026 on a winning note.
And after defeats in the only two full elections last year – Delhi and Bihar – the party needs at least one win to re-establish itself as a relevant player in the national political landscape, particularly with the 2029 Lok Sabha election on the horizon.
The Congress is hoping to do well in Kerala on the back of a strong showing in the December 2025 local body election; the Congress-led United Democratic Front, the main opposition, secured over 38 per cent of combined vote share across corporation, municipality, and panchayat polls.
The mood is similarly upbeat in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. The Congress is allied with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and expects the partnership to ease to a second consecutive term while inflicting another block to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s hopes of breaking into the state.
There is, though, some caution over seat-share talks that have yet to begin and are expected to run into trouble over the Congress’ demands, which include an active role in the government.
In Bengal and Assam, however, the story is very different.
In Bengal the Congress has decided, again, to fight a solo battle against the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP, the main opposition party, each of which is a formidable rival on its own.
It is hard, therefore, to see how the Congress – which failed to win any of the 91 seats it contested in the 2021 election, and lost 9.32 per cent of its vote share – might improve.
But then again, the party has nothing left to lose in Bengal.
Assam presents a separate challenge. The Congress has 29 seats to defend, even if its chances of upstaging the ruling BJP are widely seen as bleak. The task must be to retain those 29 and build on ground support with a view to victory in, perhaps, the 2031 election.
However, in each state the party must be aware of certain problems.
In Kerala the Congress faces a possible face-off between Shashi Tharoor, its four-time Thiruvananthapuram MP, and veteran Ramesh Chennithala, a four-time MP and five-time MLA, over the chief minister’s chair, should the party win the election and form the government.
For now, though, there is peace. The party has named Chennithala as the leader of its election campaign and Tharoor as his deputy. Sources told NDTV the party has made it clear there will be no ‘face’ to its campaign, i.e., it will present a ‘collective leadership’ pitch to the voters.
The good news is that the Congress has also been boosted by the good showing in local body polls but, just as importantly, it seems to have solved its Shashi Tharoor problem.
Picture credit social media
