A day after a major defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that she would not resign, insisting that her party had not actually lost the mandate.
She alleged that the Election Commission of India engaged in “nasty games” targeting her party during the electoral process, reports NDTV.
The results mark a historic shift in the state’s political landscape, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) poised to form its first-ever government in West Bengal on May 9. The party secured 207 out of 294 seats, while Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) won only 80 seats, ending its long-standing dominance in the state.
In another setback, Banerjee also lost her traditional stronghold in Bhabanipur to her former close aide Suvendu Adhikari, who is now a senior leader of the BJP and served as Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing assembly.
Banerjee, who has been Chief Minister since 2011, alleged large-scale “seat manipulation” and irregularities in the election process.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the outcome, stating that West Bengal had been “freed from fear” and would now move towards development and progress.
This election was the first held after the controversial deletion of around 9 million voters in West Bengal under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
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