BJP to go alone in Bengal civic polls, no alliance with NCPI, says Samik Bhattacharya

West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Samik Bhattacharya has ruled out any alliance with the National Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a regional party with which 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs have merged, in the upcoming civic polls in Kolkata and Howrah.

“NCPI is an ally of NDA. In West Bengal BJP will go alone. We will secure two-thirds majority in Howrah and Kolkata civic bodies on our strength,” Mr. Bhattacharya told media persons.

Over the past few days, the Bengal BJP president has been advocating that the party is not considering any alliance with NCPI, even though a section of rebel Trinamool Congress MPs have been advocating the same. NCPI MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar had said recently that his party would contest the KMC elections as a constituent of the NDA. Mr. Bandyopadhyay said he had spoken to the BJP’s senior leaders who were okay with the tie-up with the NCPI, a proposal which the Bengal BJP president seems to reject. After the defeat of the Trinamool Congress in the assembly polls, 20 MPs of the ruling party have left Mamata Banerjee and joined little known NCPI.

The West Bengal Legislative Assembly on August 12, 2026 passed two Bills paving the way for delimitation of wards of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Howrah Municipal Corporation. With the passage of the Bills the number of wards in Kolkata municipal area will increase from 144 to 209 and wards in the Howrah municipal area will increase from 50 to 68. Elections are likely to be held after the Durga Puja holidays. The Trinamool Congress has maintained control over the two municipal corporations for the past two decades till recently when the councillors resigned.

Ahead of the municipal elections, the State BJP president warned ticket seekers that merely holding a saffron flag does not guarantee an election ticket for the upcoming municipal elections. This comes amid high expectations from internal party workers and newly joined members after party’s victory in the Assembly polls.

Senior BJP leaders from West Bengal, Samik Bhattacharya, are opposed to taking NCPI on board for the Kolkata or Howrah municipal corporation elections, as it could create fresh confusion among grassroots-level workers. There is already a lot of debate in party rank and file that the BJP leadership is accommodating “good (bhalo) Trinamool”. 

Meanwhile, a controversy erupted over flags of the ruling party being removed at Shibpur in Howrah. The Bengal BJP president said that no one can remove the flags of the BJP in the existing political situation and added that there are not many to hold flags of Opposition parties.