Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday ruled out stepping down as Chief Minister, alleging that the West Bengal Assembly poll result was “not a people’s mandate but a conspiracy”, while vowing to take the battle to the streets and strengthen the Opposition INDIA bloc. Banerjee also alleged that the TMC’s contest in the polls was not against the BJP, but against the Election Commission, which “worked for the BJP”. “The question of my resignation does not arise, as we were defeated not by a public mandate but by a conspiracy I did not lose, I will not go to Lok Bhavan,” she said at a press conference, a day after the BJP sealed a landslide win. “Why should I resign? We have not lost. Votes have been looted. Where does the question of resignation arise?” the TMC chief asserted. The outgoing Chief Minister alleged large-scale irregularities in counting, claiming that nearly 100 seats were “looted” and that the process was deliberately slowed to break her party’s morale. “We were not fighting the BJP; we were fighting the Election Commission which was working for the BJP. I have never seen such an election in my entire political career,” she said. “A black chapter in history has been created. The Chief Election Commissioner has become the villain,” Banerjee said. The BJP secured 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, ending the TMC’s uninterrupted 15-year rule in West Bengal and marking a decisive shift in the State’s political landscape. She also alleged that Central agencies and the authorities acted in tandem, claiming that “raids, transfers and bias” skewed the playing field, and questioned the neutrality of institutions.

 

BJP slams Mamata’s refusal to resign as ‘constitutional blasphemy’, ‘post-poll tantrum’: THE BJP on Tuesday termed outgoing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s refusal to resign after her party TMC’s defeat in assembly polls as “constitutional blasphemy” and accused her of undermining the concept of peaceful transfer of power. Addressing a press conference in Kolkata a day after the BJP stormed to power in the State, Banerjee alleged large-scale irregularities in the counting process, claiming that the mandate in nearly 100 seats “was looted” and that counting was deliberately slowed down to demoralise her party. “The question of my resignation does not arise, as we were defeated not by a public mandate but by a conspiracy. I did not lose; I will not go to Lok Bhavan. They can take action as per constitutional norms,” she told reporters. Hitting back, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, in a post on X, alleged that Banerjee is suggesting “short-circuiting” the constitutional system through violence, drawing a comparison with the United States Capitol attack of January 6, 2021. “What Mamata Banerjee is suggesting is anti-Constitution, anti-(BR) Ambedkar and amounts to constitutional blasphemy, apart from being a post-poll tantrum. She wants to overturn the concept of peaceful transfer of power, which is a hallmark of our constitutional system,” he said. In a video post, Poonawalla accused Banerjee of playing the “victim card” after electoral defeat and blaming the Election Commission instead of accepting the people’s mandate. “Mamata Banerjee is now playing the most disgusting victim card by not only disrespecting the verdict of the people but also saying she will not resign. “Even if she does not resign, the Assembly will dissolve on May 8, and she will anyway lose her membership. It only shows that she is acting against the Constitution, as peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of our democracy,” he said.