KOLKATA: An Indian chief minister who was swept from power by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in state elections said on Tuesday that she had “not been defeated” and would not resign, in an unprecedented political twist.
The BJP defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has been in power in West Bengal since 2011, securing more than two-thirds of the 294 seats when votes were counted on Monday.
The BJP has never ruled West Bengal, a populous eastern state bordering Bangladesh, and its victory is being seen as a major political milestone, giving the party control over most states in eastern India.
The TMC’s tally dropped sharply to 80 seats from its previous 215, with Banerjee herself losing her constituency.
Banerjee claimed that around 100 seats were “forcibly taken” from her party and alleged bias on the part of the Election Commission, though she did not provide evidence to support the accusations.
“I will not resign, I did not lose… officially, through the Election Commission, they (the BJP) can defeat us, but morally, we won the election,” she said during a news briefing.
West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal rejected the allegations as “baseless”, while BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated Banerjee, said that “everything is mentioned in the constitution.”
Under the Indian constitution, the state’s governor may ask Banerjee to resign or allow her term to conclude, after which newly elected lawmakers would be sworn in and the process of forming a new government would begin.
Banerjee’s term is set to expire on Thursday.
A defeated candidate in an Indian state election has the option to challenge the result in court on several grounds, including corrupt practices, improper acceptance or rejection of nominations or votes, candidate disqualification, or violations of election laws that could have affected the outcome.
Banerjee did not indicate whether she would pursue legal action.
Prime Minister Modi, along with his close aide and Home Minister Amit Shah and several senior BJP leaders, campaigned extensively in the state, focusing on issues such as alleged illegal immigration from Bangladesh and what they described as economic underperformance under Banerjee’s administration.