Mamata Banerjee refused to resign as CM. Now Suvendu Adhikari takes oath — what happened in between?

After the BJP won an astounding 207 of the 294 seats in the West Bengal Assembly election, securing the saffron party a decisive victory, while the TMC was reduced to 80, Mamata Banerjee refused to step down as the Chief Minister.

At a fiery press conference at her Kalighat residence, she adamantly declared, “No question of me resigning; we were defeated not by public mandate but by conspiracy,” and accused the Election Commission and central security forces of bias and colluding with the BJP to “loot” the election.

“I have not lost, so I will not go to Raj Bhavan. I will not tender resignation,” she told reporters. She alleged widespread voter manipulation and even claimed that her party workers were physically assaulted and intimidated.

In closed-door meetings with her newly elected MLAs, she struck a defiant tone, reportedly stating, "Let them impose President's Rule if they want. Let them dismiss me if they want."

“Let it remain on record as a black day,” Banerjee told Party workers.

Constitutional Crisis

Mamata Banerjee's refusal to resign created an unprecedented situation. In the Indian Constitution, an outgoing Chief Minister typically resigns following an electoral defeat to allow the new government to be formed.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose, in her column in ThePrint, argued Banerjee was not resisting authoritarianism — She was becoming it.

According to constitutional experts, under Article 164 of the Indian Constitution, a Chief Minister holds office "at the pleasure of the Governor," which is intrinsically tied to commanding a majority in the Legislative Assembly.

Since the TMC unequivocally lost that majority, Mamata Banerjee's continuation became constitutionally untenable and was inherently time-bound.

The term of the existing West Bengal Legislative Assembly was scheduled to automatically expire at midnight on May 7. After this deadline, all elected representatives, including the Chief Minister and her cabinet, would legally lose their authority.

Assembly Dissolution

The standoff did not end with a formal resignation letter from Mamata Banerjee. Instead, the Governor took decisive constitutional action.

On the evening of May 7, just hours before the assembly's term was set to expire, Governor RN Ravi stepped in and invoked his powers under Article 174(2)(b) of the Constitution and formally dissolved the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

The single-line communication read: “In exercise of the power conferred on me by sub-clause (b) of Clause (2) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India, I hereby dissolve the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal with effect from 07th of May 2026.”

This action officially ended the tenure of the current government, making Banerjee’s refusal to resign a moot point.

On May 7, the Trinamool Congress announced that it would go to court to challenge the results of the assembly election that ended its three terms in power.

Did Mamta Banerjee attend Suvendu Adhikari's oath-taking ceremony?

Mamata Banerjee, the outgoing Bengal CM and TMC supremo, did not attend BJP legislature party leader Suvendu Adhikari's oath-taking ceremony as the chief minister of West Bengal on Saturday, even though she was invited.

Abhishek Banerjee alleges rigging

TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee slammed the PM Modi-led government at the Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

Suggesting that the democratic institutions were compromised during the process, he said that nearly 30 lakh genuine voters were allegedly disenfranchised from the electoral rolls.

“Democratic institutions that are meant to function impartially appeared compromised, raising serious concerns about the fairness, credibility and transparency of the electoral process in West Bengal,” he said in a post on X.

He added, “Democracy can only survive when electoral institutions inspire trust and confidence among citizens. Unfortunately, what we have witnessed has deeply shaken that trust.”