Mamata Banerjee reached out to CPI(M) General Secretary M.A. Baby in a phone call this Friday, the first direct contact between the two parties in decades, sources confirmed. The conversation was driven by growing concerns over the credibility of the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with both leaders expressing a desire to mount a coordinated opposition. Banerjee also leveraged the call to urge Congress chair Rahul Gandhi to convene an INDIA bloc meeting early next week, thereby expanding the coalition beyond just TMC and CPI(M). Historically, the TMC and CPI(M) have been bitter rivals in West Bengal politics, rarely engaging in direct dialogue at the leadership level since the 1990s; this outreach signals a potential shift in the state's opposition dynamics. Opposition parties have already intensified criticism of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of procedural lapses during the SIR exercise, and are seeking a unified front to challenge his decisions. In the immediate term, the parties are expected to formalize the meeting agenda and invite other opposition groups, setting the stage for a broader confrontation with the Election Commission in the coming weeks.