OUSTED West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) founder Ms. Mamata Banerjee is following a clearly immoral morality. She is indulging in a sinful thought-process that is not just anti-democratic but also unconstitutional. Her statements after her defeat and actions betray a cheap political culture the like of which the country has not seen in the past 79 years since Independence. Indian politics has never seen such a situation when a defeated Chief Minister refuses to resign -- even after her five-year term is ending on May 7, 2026. If this obstinacy continues, then Ms. Mamata Banerjee will have to be sacked -- and possibly arrested for obstructing the flow of democratic process of smooth hand-over of power after elections. Of course, Ms. Banerjee is not an idiot. She knows what she is doing -- therefore there is a strong reason to believe that she is indulging in this cheap political drama only to create an unholy disruption in the country. It cannot be ruled out that Ms. Mamata Banerjee is possibly trying to incite her followers to indulge in violence as a mark of support of the so-called “moral victory” she claims her party has scored in the elections -- despite the nerve-shattering defeat. If such a dirty design succeeds, then West Bengal may see some untoward development in the time to come.

 

The Government at the Centre must be duly concerned about such an ugly possibility. Article 172 of the Constitution of India makes it clear that every Government is elected for a full term of five years and its authority lapses on the expiry of that period. By that definition, Ms. Mamata Banerjee cannot remain Chief Minister after May 7, 2026. After that date, the resignation is only a formality -- since she would not remain Chief Minister constitutionally and legally. No matter what she might have to say in response to this reality, Ms. Banerjee would cease to be in power automatically after that date. Yet, for a highly immoral politician like Ms. Mamata Banerjee, constitutional, legal and political morality mean actually nothing. For all the fifteen years she was in power in West Bengal, she flouted the norms constitutional, legal and political morality left-right-and-centre. Almost all her statements and actions indicated that she did not consider herself as Indian and insisted (indirectly) that West Bengal was not part of India.

 

This was evident to the nation and its people through her obstinate refusal to defy principles of nationalistic federalism. She wanted to flout the laws passed by the Central Government. She wanted to keep central welfare schemes away from West Bengal. She questioned the character of India’s defence forces. She did not miss a chance to insult central functionaries such as President and Prime Minister and others. And most critically, she colluded with external interests to allow illegal immigrants into India from neighbouring countries -- with a clear purpose of vote-bank politics that she wished to operate through changed demographic balance. In this manner, Ms. Banerjee’s entire period as West Bengal’s Chief Minister was steeped in this or that kind of immorality -- which has now manifested in her refusal to resign even after her defeat in elections and official end of her five-year term. The country saw parallel legislative elections in three other States and one Union Territory. In all those, places, the Chief Ministers -- whether they won or did not win -- tendered their resignations to the Governors of respective States. Even though Mr. Himanta Biswa Sarma has won the election personally and for his party, he resigned as Chief Minister of Assam. Mr. M.K. Stalin and Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan also tendered their resignations to Governors respectively in Tamil Nadu and Keralam. All these highly acclaimed political leaders followed the simple of norm of political, constitutional and legal morality. In sharp contrast, the conduct of Ms. Mamata Banerjee is highly immoral, to say the least, as well as unconstitutional and illegal.

 

The nation just cannot accept such a brazenness. In actual terms, Ms. Banerjee’s cheap political drama will come to an end automatically on May 8, 2026. She will have to go by any and every standard. Yet, if she wants to create an untoward and awkward situation for the country, she may instigate her followers to indulge in unlawful behaviour. If such an eventuality takes place, then the Central forces will have to deal with it with an iron hand. Knowing how the Central forces handled the election-duty under the guidance of the Election Commission of India, it can be safely surmised that the goons of Ms. Mamata Banerjee would be handled with an iron hand -- so that they would never be able to forget how they got punished for their excesses and acts of violence -- for which they have earned a terrible bad name over time. Meanwhile, West Bengal has begun witnessing a palpable change in its overall atmosphere. Common people in the street are expressing a sense of liberation from the TMC misrule. Women are on the forefront in such expressions -- indicating clearly that Ms. Banerjee had lost the support of women voters because of her open support to the goon-culture.

 

The people were fed up of the political vanadalism for which West Bengal became infamous during the Mamata Banerjee rule. Sensing the popular mood, it can be said quite safely that Ms. Mamata Banerjee may not get much support from the masses if at all she resorts to some cheap and uncouth behaviour. The voters have rebuffed her strongly. Now the people in the streets would follow suit and teach her lessons she would never forget. Such a treatment is most necessary to promote a healthy culture steeped in democracy. Several Opposition leaders are expressing support to Ms. Mamata Banerjee. It is time they understood how hollow their ideologies and political cultures are -- as they are encouraging Ms. Banerjee’s conduct steeped in immorality of every kind. The results of West Bengal elections must come as lessons for all such shallow-thinking political people.