Outgoing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday ruled out resigning after her party’s defeat in the elections, claiming the outcome was not a genuine public mandate.
She said the result was the outcome of a “conspiracy” rather than the will of the people.
The Trinamool Congress chief alleged that her party was effectively contesting against the Election Commission of India (ECI), which she claimed acted in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), reported the PTI.
She also raised concerns about alleged irregularities during the counting process, claiming that results in several seats were influenced.
Claims of counting irregularities
Banerjee alleged that counting was deliberately slowed down and that the mandate in nearly 100 seats had been “taken away”.
Describing the situation as unprecedented, she termed it a “black chapter” in democratic history.
She announced the formation of a 10-member fact-finding committee to visit areas reportedly affected by post-poll violence and assess the ground situation.
At the same time, she dismissed allegations of violence similar to those made after previous elections.
Support from opposition leaders
Banerjee said leaders from the opposition alliance had reached out to her to express solidarity, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, according to the PTI.
She added that she would now focus on strengthening the opposition at the national level.
The BJP secured a decisive victory in the 294-member Assembly, winning 207 seats and ending the 15-year rule of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the state.
BJP`s Bengal tally climbs to 207
Meanwhile, the BJP on Tuesday inched its tally up to 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, following a recount-triggered victory in the Rajarhat-New Town constituency, adding a final layer of drama to an already landmark verdict, as per the PTI.
The additional seat came after BJP candidate Piyush Kanodia defeated sitting two-term TMC MLA Tapash Chatterjee by a slender margin of 309 votes after a recount, pushing the party`s final tally from 206 to 207.
The TMC`s seat count fell from 215 in 2021 to 80.
At the end of 18 rounds of counting, Kanodia polled 1,06,564 votes, while Chatterjee secured 1,06,255 votes, with Election Commission sources confirming that the BJP candidate would be formally declared the winner shortly.
(with PTI inputs)