Won't resign, poll result a conspiracy, not people's mandate: Mamata
“A black chapter in history has been created,” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief warns.
A day after the BJP swept the West Bengal assembly elections, outgoing chief minister Mamata Banerjee today (5 May) rejected calls to step down, claiming the outcome was "not a genuine public mandate but the result of a conspiracy."
Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief alleged that her party had not been defeated by voters but by systemic manipulation.
"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," she said, adding that she would not go to Raj Bhavan and authorities could proceed "as per constitutional norms."
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She struck a defiant tone, saying, "We will bounce back and fight back... We fought them just like a tiger."
Mamata further alleged that the TMC's contest in the polls was effectively against the Election Commission of India, which she accused of working in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
She also claimed widespread irregularities during the counting process, alleging that results in nearly 100 seats were "looted" and that counting was deliberately slowed to demoralise her party.
"We have also received information, though it is yet to be fully verified, that messages came from its control office in Delhi and that even the counting centres were compromised. This is extremely unfortunate," she said.
She further alleged that the BJP, along with "miscreants", carried out attacks on TMC workers, while police remained inactive.
"The police remained completely inactive. When we won for the first time, I had said there should be no atrocities against anyone… However, for the past three days, BJP has been carrying out violence. I have witnessed this myself. Over 100 people were harassed," she said.
Mamata claimed BJP members entered counting centres and assaulted people, including counting agents. Referring to her defeat in Bhabanipur, she alleged that her party's counting agents were removed and irregularities took place during vote counting.
She also alleged physical assault during the process. "When I managed to enter briefly, I was physically assaulted… the CCTV cameras were switched off at that time," she said.
The outgoing chief minister added that her party would take action over the alleged role of the Election Commission but would not disclose its strategy immediately.
She also claimed that TMC offices were targeted and attacked in several places, including incidents of vandalism and attempts to take over party offices.
"If people are subjected to such harassment… they must understand that they may have to face similar resistance in the future. This approach is neither acceptable nor sustainable," she said.
"A black chapter in history has been created," Mamata warned.
India's ruling party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, secured a landmark victory as the BJP swept the West Bengal polls, ending 15 years of TMC rule.
According to official results from the Election Commission, the BJP won 206 of 294 seats, while the TMC secured 81. Other parties, including the Indian National Congress, smaller regional groups, and the Communist Party of India, managed only a handful of seats.
Mamata, a three-time chief minister, also lost her Bhabanipur seat in south Kolkata by over 15,000 votes to Suvendu Adhikari, a former ally who defected to the BJP.
The result marks a major political shift in West Bengal, echoing historic transitions such as the Left Front's rise in 1977 and the TMC's victory in 2011. It also carries regional significance, particularly for Bangladesh, given the state's long shared border and the prominence of migration issues during the campaign.
