West Bengal verdict not people's mandate but 'conspiracy', says Mamata; refuses to resign

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday, 5 May, refused to go to Raj Bhavan to tender her resignation. She said she has not lost the election in Bhabanipur and accused her opponents of rigging the result. 

Banerjee alleged that the TMC did not contest against the BJP, but against the Election Commission, which “worked for the saffron party”.

Addressing a press conference a day after results to the West Bengal assembly were declared, the TMC leader reacted angrily when asked whether she would meet the Governor.

 “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.

“Why should I resign? We have not lost. Votes have been looted. Where does the question of my resignation arise?” the TMC chief asserted.

She said she would only visit Raj Bhavan to take oath of office, not to resign, and claimed that her party’s mandate had been “stolen”. She said she would “bounce back” and continue her political fight. 

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.

Reiterating that votes were “looted” in nearly 100 polling booths the outgoing chief minister maintained that the declared victory of BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari from Bhabanipur was not legitimate. She also made serious accusations about happenings inside the counting centre. 

According to Banerjee, her party’s counting agents were assaulted and forcibly removed. She claimed she was too pushed from behind, beaten and struck in the abdomen and back while she was trying to remain present until completion of counting. She further alleged that CCTV cameras were switched off during the incident and that central forces entered the premises and issued threats.

Meanwhile, experts have pointed out the constitutional process that follows election results. Former bureaucrat Jawahar Sircar explained that once the term of an assembly ends, it automatically ceases to exist and a new assembly must be constituted. He said the Election Commission will certify the results and send them to the assembly, after which newly elected members will receive their certificates.

Former judge Debasish Kar Gupta referred to Article 164 of the Constitution, stating that the chief minister’s tenure effectively ends once results are declared. He added that, by convention, an outgoing chief minister may continue briefly in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed, and that the Governor can take necessary steps if the cabinet does not resign.

Signaling a shift in strategy after the electoral setback, Banerjee said she would now focus on strengthening the opposition alliance at the national level.

“INDIA bloc leaders called me up to express solidarity. Soniaji and Rahul Gandhi have spoken to me,” Banerjee said, adding that she also received calls from Arvind Kejriwal, Uddhav Thackeray, Akhilesh Yadav and Hemant Soren.

The irony of this statement was hard to miss given the TMC’s sharp attacks in the past on the party and its leadership, including questions raised over Rahul Gandhi’s credibility as an anti-BJP face and frequent friction between the two in West Bengal and Tripura.

Striking a defiant personal note, Banerjee declared she would return to agitational politics. “As long as I was in the chair, I tolerated many things. Now I am a free bird, an ordinary person. I am a street fighter. I will remain on the streets and fight all atrocities,” she declared.

(With agency inputs)