West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee, who, after three consecutive terms in power, lost the state to the BJP on Monday, has refused to resign, triggering an unprecedented political crisis that is likely to land on Governor RN Ravi’s desk for resolution.
Mamata—known for her combative stance when cornered and who only Monday vowed to fight like a “tiger cub”—maintained on Tuesday that she had not lost the election and alleged that the BJP’s mandate was the result of “loot,” reports NDTV.
“I have not lost, so I will not go to Raj Bhavan. I will not tender resignation,” she told reporters at a press conference.
While her decision could potentially pave the way for president’s Rule in the state, Election Commission sources said this is not necessary if the winning party stakes claim and is invited by the Governor to form the government before the assembly’s term ends.
The term of the West Bengal Assembly ends on Thursday, leaving the BJP with just two more days to move ahead with government formation.
On Monday, as counting in her Bhabanipur constituency progressed and it became clear she had lost to her aide-turned-BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, Banerjee alleged that “100 seats have been stolen” in the election, calling it “loot, loot, loot.”
Tuesday, she also accused both the central government and the Election Commission of complicity, alleging the poll body was playing “nasty games” and claiming the Trinamool’s real rival was the Commission, not the BJP.
Charging the government with “direct interference,” she said: “This is how they stole elections from Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar and now Bengal.”
“This is not how democracy works. When the judiciary is not there, when the Election Commission is biased and the government wants one-party rule, a wrong message is going to the world,” she added.
The 71-year-old also alleged she was assaulted at a polling station and said that was why she could not address the media on Monday. “I was kicked in the belly and back. The CCTV was off. I was pushed out of the counting station. As a woman, I was misbehaved with,” she said.
“If Central forces can behave like this, I have nothing to say. I have seen former BJP governments at the Center, but nothing like this,” she added.
Mamata declined to reveal her party’s next course of action but said leaders of the INDIA bloc had contacted her and extended their support. She, however, said the Trinamool would form a fact-finding committee comprising five MPs and others to visit areas where the party is allegedly under attack and where its offices have been vandalized.
Banerjee gets unexpected support
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, whose party remains a Trinamool rival in West Bengal despite being part of the INDIA bloc nationally, accused the BJP of “vote theft” in the state.
In a post on X, he said: “Some in the Congress, and others, are gloating about TMC’s loss. They need to understand this clearly — the theft of Assam and Bengal’s mandate is a big step forward by the BJP in its mission to destroy Indian democracy. Put petty politics aside. This is not about one party or another. This is about India.”
He had also earlier backed Mamata’s allegation that over 100 seats were “stolen” in Bengal.
“Assam and Bengal are clear cases of the election being stolen by the BJP with the support of the EC. We agree with Mamata ji. More than 100 seats were stolen in Bengal. We have seen this playbook before: Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Lok Sabha 2024, etc.,” his post said.