'Defeated By Conspiracy, Not Public': CM Mamata Banerjee Refuses To Resign, Calls EC 'Villain Of Election'

A day after a humiliating defeat in West Bengal, the outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday refused to resign from the office, saying that she was not defeated by the public but by a conspiracy.

Speaking at a press conference, she said, "No question of me resigning, we were defeated not by public mandate but by conspiracy."

She accused the BJP of capturing all the institutions and misusing them against the TMC. CM Mamata also lashed out at the Chief Election Commissioner, referring to him as 'the villain of the election.'

Make huge allegations, CM Mamata said that she was kicked, pushed and manhandled inside the Bhabanipur counting centre on Monday evening.

She said, "Sad to say, CEC became the villain of this election to loot the democratic rights of the people and to loot the EVM. Can you tell me that after voting, EVM has an 80-90% charge? How is it possible? Two days before the election, they started arresting our people. They started raiding everywhere. They changed all IPS and IAS officers. They selected people from their party, and the BJP played the game directly with the Election Commission. It is a betting between the BJP and the Election Commission."

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"We fought against all machinery. PM and HM are also involved in direct interference. They deleted 90 lakh names in the SIR. When we went to court, 32 lakh names were included...They played dirty, nasty and mischievous games. I have never seen this type of election in my life," Banerjee added.

Mamata alleged post-poll violence against TMC workers by the BJP and announced the formation of a 10-member fact-finding committee to visit areas hit by post-poll violence across the state. Meanwhile, she also rejected the BJP's allegations around post-poll violence in Bengal in 2021 after the TMC's resurgence to power. 

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Speaking about the central forces' role in the elections, she said, "Central force jawans behaved like goons outside the counting centres."

In the West Bengal Assembly Elections, the BJP routed TMC in a landslide victory, securing 207 out of a total of 293 seats that went to counting. The BJP rose from 77 in 2021 to 207, while the TMC declined from 215 in 2021 to 81 in 2026.