I won’t resign, Bengal poll results not people’s mandate: CM Mamata Banerjee

"I did not lose, I will not go to Lok Bhavan. They can take action as per constitutional norms,” the TMC supremo said.

Kolkata: Outgoing West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday, May 5, ruled out stepping down after her party’s defeat in the Assembly polls, claiming that the verdict was not a genuine public mandate but the result of a conspiracy.

Banerjee also alleged that the TMC’s contest in the polls was not against the BJP, but against the Election Commission (EC), 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. They can take action as per constitutional norms,” she told a press conference in Kolkata.

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.

“A black chapter in history has been created,” she asserted. The TMC chief accused Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of undermining people’s democratic rights.

Banerjee also announced the formation of a 10-member fact-finding committee to visit areas “affected by post-poll violence” and assess the ground situation. She dismissed as baseless allegations of post-poll violence in 2021.

Banerjee said several leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc had reached out to her to express solidarity following the poll outcome. “INDIA bloc leaders called me up to express solidarity. Sonia ji and Rahul Gandhi have spoken to me,” she said.

Banerjee said that she would now focus on strengthening the Opposition alliance at the national level.

BJP tally increases to 207 seats

A day after scripting a historic mandate in West Bengal, the BJP 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.

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.

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.

The result follows Monday’s decisive mandate, in which the BJP crossed the two-thirds mark to end the Trinamool Congress’ 15-year rule and come to power for the first time in the state.

The verdict had also carried significant symbolic weight, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee losing the high-profile Bhabanipur seat to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari.

With the revised tally, the BJP has further consolidated its dominant position, well above the halfway mark of 148 seats, reinforcing the scale of its victory.

For the first time since 1972, West Bengal is set to be governed by a party that is also in power at the Centre, a shift with far-reaching administrative and political implications.

Vote share data highlighted the depth of the shift. The BJP’s vote share rose to around 45 per cent, up from 38 per cent in 2021, while the TMC’s declined to nearly 40.94 per cent from 48 per cent.

In seat terms, the reversal was stark: the TMC’s tally falling from 215 to around 80, even as the BJP surged from 77 to 207 seats, converting organisational expansion into a decisive and historic mandate.