The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) has assigned the roles of leader and deputy leader of the Congress’s legislative party in the West Bengal Assembly to the current party legislators. Julfikar Ali from Raninagar Assembly Constituency has been named the leader, while Motab Shaikh from Farakka is the deputy leader. In the recent West Bengal Assembly elections, the Congress independently contested all 294 constituencies and secured victories only in Raninagar and Farakka.
The heavyweight Congress candidates, including the state president Suvankar Sarkar and former state president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, faced defeats in the elections. Julfikar Ali won in Raninagar by defeating Trinamool Congress’s Abdul Soumik Hossain with a margin of under 3,000 votes, while Motab Shaikh emerged victorious in Farakka by defeating BJP’s Sunil Chowdhury with a margin of less than 9,000 votes. Both Ali and Shaikh are serving as legislators for the first time.
The West Bengal Assembly polls marked the end of the 15-year rule of the Trinamool Congress, with the BJP forming its inaugural government in the state by winning in 208 constituencies. The Trinamool Congress secured victories in 80 constituencies, while the Congress and Aam Janata Unnyaan Party (AJUP) founded by former Trinamool Congress legislator Humayun Kabir each won two seats. The CPI(M) and All India Secular Front (AISF) each secured one seat.
Despite contesting together in 2021, the Congress and the CPI(M)-led Left Front failed to win any Assembly seats. However, they continued their seat-sharing arrangement in the subsequent elections in 2026.
