In West Bengal's political landscape, accusations of secret understandings between rival parties, known as "setting," have become a prominent tool, shaping narratives and electoral strategies.
If Bengal politics relies heavily on perception, then "setting" remains a key charge leveled by major political parties against each other.
The ruling TMC, the main opposition BJP, the Left Front led by the CPI(M), and the Congress all use this term, either accusing or satirizing others.
In Bengal's political culture, humor often accompanies accusations. Terms like "CPMOOL (CPI(M)-Trinamool)", "Bijemool (BJP-TMC)", and "Ram-Bam (BJP-Left)" have become common, blurring satire and strategy.
The TMC's long-standing "Ram-Bam" line suggests that Left voters gradually shifted to the BJP after 2019, strengthening the saffron surge.
The CPI(M) accuses the BJP and TMC of benefiting from each other's existence, while BJP leaders portray the TMC and Left forces as tactical collaborators when electoral equations demand it.
With the state elections just months away, the rhetoric has intensified, shifting the focus from governance to allegations of covert alliances. Speeches, digital campaigns, and AI-driven memes amplify these whispers across Bengal's political landscape.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh dismissed allegations of secret understanding, saying, "Those who cannot challenge us politically keep inventing theories of 'setting'. The real setting is among defeated forces trying to stay relevant."
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya framed it differently.
"People have seen how opposition votes get fragmented in crucial seats and help the ruling party," he said, arguing that the Left and the Congress have indirectly aided the TMC in several contests.
Senior CPI (M) leader Sujan Chakraborty claimed that the "politics of fear and convenience" between the BJP and TMC benefits both.
"We keep raising governance issues, but the narrative is deliberately diverted," he said.
Congress veteran Adhir Chowdhury argued that when politics becomes personality-centric, rumours replace ideological debate.
"Past instances have shown that the TMC acts like the BJP's Trojan horse in the opposition camp and how the BJP is helping the Trinamool Congress in Bengal," he said.
One of the newest threads in this narrative is the emergence of suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir and his proposed Janata Unnayan Party. Kabir's reported talks with Left circles and possible engagement with minority-focused forces have fueled speculation that new formations are designed to alter vote equations, reinforcing the "setting" discourse.
TMC leaders have accused emerging parties of indirectly aiding the BJP by dividing anti-TMC votes. Similar allegations have been made against ISF and AIMIM, both of whom reject the charge and insist that they represent independent voices.
For the BJP, this narrative helps consolidate anti-incumbency sentiment while appealing to voters disillusioned with both TMC and the Left.
For TMC, branding smaller formations as "vote-cutters" reinforces minority and secular consolidation, while for the CPI (M) and Congress, the theory helps project both larger rivals as beneficiaries of a managed bipolar contest.
Political analysts note that such accusations work because they require little proof. Every delayed investigation or tactical silence becomes fodder for speculation.
"It is a narrative that thrives on ambiguity based on the nature of the centre-state relationship. People connect dots even when there may be none," said political analyst Suman Bhattacharya.
The "setting" theory itself is not new and dates back decades, during the 1967 experiment of the first non-Congress government, the United Front alliance between the Congress breakaway Bangla Congress and CPI (M), allegations frequently surfaced that leaders of the Bangla Congress, headed by then chief minister Ajoy Mukherjee, maintained a covert understanding with the Congress high command in Delhi.
Decades later, during the Left Front era, the TMC repeatedly accused the Congress and CPI(M) of tactical proximity, popularising the term "tormuj" (watermelon) to describe state Congress leaders who appeared green outside but red inside, a metaphor suggesting they were publicly opposed to the Left but privately aligned with it.
Veteran observers recall how courtesy meetings between adversaries were interpreted as evidence of secret deals. One such episode, the "fish fry meeting" between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Left leaders after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, entered political folklore as shorthand for alleged tactical warmth.
The TMC's abstention during the 2022 vice presidential election, where Jagdeep Dhankhar emerged victorious, was seized upon by opponents as proof of tactical ambiguity, though the party said it was protesting opposition consultation processes.
Similarly, legal and investigative developments often become fodder for narratives of collusion. The pace of central agency probes, such as chit-fund cases or others, is cited by rival camps to support competing theories, while ongoing court proceedings in the ED-I-PAC raids case keep the debate alive.
In Bengal, "setting" has moved from corridor gossip to campaign currency traded by all parties, denied publicly, yet eagerly consumed by voters.
