West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, leader of Trinamool Congress (TMC), along with member of parliament Abhishek Banerjee (right), addresses a press conference in Kolkata on Tuesday.
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SAHIBA CHAWDHARY
A day after her party suffered a major defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said she would not resign as the Chief Minister. Banerjee claimed her party “did not lose” the elections. Rather, the entire electoral process was “rigged” in BJP’s favour.
“We have not been defeated. I have not been defeated. I will not resign. There is no question of my going to the Raj Bhawan,” she said at a press conference. “In this election, the BJP and the Election Commission played a dirty game. They forcefully grabbed votes.” She claimed that over 100 seats were “looted” from her party.
unprecedented
By refusing to resign, Banerjee has created an unprecedented situation. But it has no bearing on the Constitutional scheme, which is an in-built system of ensuring continuity in government. Mamata ceases to be Chief Minister on May 6-7 when the term of the West Bengal Assembly comes to an end. According to former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha PDT Achary, this is a situation without a precedent but whether or not she resigns, there is no stopping the Constitutional process of next government formation.
“The convention is for the Governor to ask the outgoing CM to contiinue till her successor takes over because the government is in continuity. But once the House in which she had a majority ceases to exist, she has no Constitutional status. Whether she resigns or not is irrelevant to this scheme. It is a convention that the CM resigns and the Governor asks her to continue till the next CM takes over,” said Achary.
But if this convention is not followed, it does not alter the Constitutional scheme. A Chief Minister holds office under Article 164 at the pleasure of the Governor, which is linked to whether the Chief Minister commands the confidence of the Legislative Assembly. The Governor can simply withdraw pleasure and invite the leader who commands majority support in the new House. The Governor can dismiss her, a suggestion that has been mooted by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
According to Constitutional lawyer Aditya Sondhi, the only parallel to the present situation is Donald Trump refusing to concede elections in 2021. “Her refusing to resign isn’t going to change anything. If she says the election was ‘looted’, there is a recourse for that. And that is that each one of those candidates who believe their election was unfair goes to court with an election petition, and let the court decide on the merits of that particular case,” said Sondhi.
As things stand, said Sondhi, an election has taken place and a party has won a majority. If the opposing party has a grievance, it can only be settled through a legal process. “She won’t gain anything by refusing to resign. Once the Assembly’s term has come to an end, she has no Constitutional status unless she has won the majority of seats in the new Assembly,” he said.
Mamata Banerjee lost to the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari by over 15,000 votes in Bhabanipur. BJP won 207 seats out of the total 294-seats Assembly, while Trinamool could only win 80 seats.
Banerjee indicated that there is a possibility of political mobilisation on the ground and the possibility of coordinated action with INDIA bloc allies. “Soniaji, Rahulji, Arvind Kejriwal, Uddhav Thackeray, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejaswi Yadav, Hemant Soren called me. They are totally and absolutely with me. Akhilesh asked me if he should come today, but I told him to come tomorrow,” Banerjee said.
Published on May 5, 2026
