The Congress’ heavy defeat in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections has triggered visible fissures within the INDIA bloc, with key allies openly calling for a change in leadership. The Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress have now positioned themselves as contenders to spearhead the opposition front ahead of crucial upcoming state elections.

On Monday, Samajwadi Party MLA from Lucknow Central, Ravidas Mehrotra, made a clear and assertive pitch for Akhilesh Yadav to take charge of the alliance.

“All office bearers, MLAs, and MPs of our party want Akhilesh ji to lead the INDIA bloc. The Samajwadi Party is the third largest party (in Lok Sabha), and everyone has expressed this view with full consensus,” he said, stressing that the SP’s 37 MPs in the Lok Sabha give it the rightful claim to leadership.

Mehrotra said the SP is gearing up for a massive expansion in Uttar Pradesh ahead of 2027. The party, he said, plans to contest at least 350 seats, while decisions on alliances will be taken by the national leadership.

The Congress—currently heading the INDIA bloc with 99 MPs—has found itself under internal and external pressure after its poor performance in Bihar, where it secured just six seats out of 61. The dismal outcome has emboldened voices demanding a rethink of leadership within the coalition.

Adding to the churn, the Trinamool Congress has once again pushed its long-standing demand: that Mamata Banerjee should lead the opposition front.

Last week, senior TMC MP Kalyan Bandyopadhyay told “BJP has good organisational strength in Bihar and the Congress failed to match them, which was reflected in the vote results. Mark my words, TMC will romp home with an absolute majority under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee in the 2026 polls... Yes, Didi should be the face of the non-BJP front to fight the communal, divisive, dictatorial and undemocratic politics of the BJP.”