<p>The election for 294-seat West Bengal Assembly is poised to be a stiff contest between the TMC and the BJP. The election will be held in eight phases, beginning with polling for 30 seats on March 27. Votes will be counted on May 2.</p>.<p>Ahead of the much-awaited West Bengal elections, the BJP and TMC have been seen taking down each other in rallies. Be it PM Modi’s attack on Mamata Banerjee, or the latter accusing PM of ‘spreading lies’, the elections will see a direct battle between Didi vs BJP.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/mamata-to-keep-bengal-throne-but-bjps-lotus-visibly-in-bloom-opinion-poll-959659.html">Mamata to keep Bengal throne but BJP's lotus visibly in bloom: Opinion poll </a></strong></p>.<p><strong>But did you know, Mamata’s TMC was an ally of the National Democratic Front under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government?</strong></p>.<p>Let’s go back to the 1990s. After being a Congress leader in her initial years, Mamata Banerjee had a fallout with the party due to difference in political views with the then-Congress state president Somendra Nath Mitra.</p>.<p>In 1998, Mamata formed the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). It gained prominence and quickly became the primary Opposition party in the state against the Communist government.</p>.<p>One year later, TMC formed an alliance with the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and Mamata became the Railways Minister.</p>.<p>However, following a <em>Tehelka</em> expose into the defence deals by the ruling NDA government, TMC walked out of the alliance and went back to the Congress before the West Bengal Assembly Elections in 2001.</p>.<p>In 2003, TMC returned to the NDA and she was made the Coal and Mines minister. The TMC faced a few setbacks starting from 2004 when Banerjee was the only elected MP from the party in General Elections.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/tmc-faces-a-fresh-spate-of-defections-to-bjp-loses-control-over-malda-zilla-parishad-959658.html">TMC faces a fresh spate of defections to BJP, loses control over Malda Zilla Parishad </a></strong></p>.<p>After another setback in the 2006 state Assembly Elections, Mamata resigned from the Lok Sabha.</p>.<p>From there, TMC never looked back at the NDA as the party jumped to the other side in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections siding with Congress.</p>
<p>The election for 294-seat West Bengal Assembly is poised to be a stiff contest between the TMC and the BJP. The election will be held in eight phases, beginning with polling for 30 seats on March 27. Votes will be counted on May 2.</p>.<p>Ahead of the much-awaited West Bengal elections, the BJP and TMC have been seen taking down each other in rallies. Be it PM Modi’s attack on Mamata Banerjee, or the latter accusing PM of ‘spreading lies’, the elections will see a direct battle between Didi vs BJP.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/mamata-to-keep-bengal-throne-but-bjps-lotus-visibly-in-bloom-opinion-poll-959659.html">Mamata to keep Bengal throne but BJP's lotus visibly in bloom: Opinion poll </a></strong></p>.<p><strong>But did you know, Mamata’s TMC was an ally of the National Democratic Front under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government?</strong></p>.<p>Let’s go back to the 1990s. After being a Congress leader in her initial years, Mamata Banerjee had a fallout with the party due to difference in political views with the then-Congress state president Somendra Nath Mitra.</p>.<p>In 1998, Mamata formed the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). It gained prominence and quickly became the primary Opposition party in the state against the Communist government.</p>.<p>One year later, TMC formed an alliance with the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and Mamata became the Railways Minister.</p>.<p>However, following a <em>Tehelka</em> expose into the defence deals by the ruling NDA government, TMC walked out of the alliance and went back to the Congress before the West Bengal Assembly Elections in 2001.</p>.<p>In 2003, TMC returned to the NDA and she was made the Coal and Mines minister. The TMC faced a few setbacks starting from 2004 when Banerjee was the only elected MP from the party in General Elections.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/tmc-faces-a-fresh-spate-of-defections-to-bjp-loses-control-over-malda-zilla-parishad-959658.html">TMC faces a fresh spate of defections to BJP, loses control over Malda Zilla Parishad </a></strong></p>.<p>After another setback in the 2006 state Assembly Elections, Mamata resigned from the Lok Sabha.</p>.<p>From there, TMC never looked back at the NDA as the party jumped to the other side in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections siding with Congress.</p>
