The swearing-in ceremony of West Bengal’s new Chief Minister will be held at Brigade Parade Ground on May 9 at 10 am.
Mamata Banerjee told the party legislators that the BJP had “looted” the election and asserted that the party would move the Supreme Court alleging large-scale manipulation during counting.
A day after refusing to resign as West Bengal Chief Minister after TMC suffered a huge loss, Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday called her decision as a “symbolic protest” against alleged manipulation of the assembly poll results while threatening the Centre to “impose President’s Rule”.
Speaking at a meeting of newly elected TMC MLAs and senior leaders at her Kalighat residence, Banerjee said the TMC would politically oppose the “engineered mandate” while alleging that over 1,500 Trinamool Congress offices “were hijacked”.
PTI quoted her telling her party legislators that the BJP had “looted” the election and asserted that the party would move the Supreme Court alleging large-scale manipulation during counting.
The meeting was attended by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and senior party leaders. The discussion was focused on the party’s future strategy, organisational restructuring and allocation of responsibilities after its worst electoral setback since coming to power in 2011.
“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 was quoted as telling party legislators during the closed-door meeting. The term of the current West Bengal Assembly ends on May 7 and she will continue to hold the office till May 7.
The Bharatiya Janata Party created history in the recently concluded assembly elections. The party won 207 seats in the 294-member House, ending the 15-year rule of the Trinamool Congress.
The TMC, which had secured 212 seats in the previous election, was reduced to 80 this time.
After the results were announced, reports and visuals of violent clashes emerged. On Tuesday, the TMC alleged that “BJP cadres hacked to death one of its workers in Birbhum’s Nanoor”. Meanwhile, the BJP accused the TMC workers of impersonating BJP workers to “mislead people” and “create disorder”.
TMC offices in mutliple regions, incluing Tollygunge, and Kasba in Kolkata, and in places like Baruipur, Kamarhati, Baranagar, Howrah, and Bahrampur, were vandalised by mobs since Monday, according to a report by news agency PTI.
PTI quoted the TMC chief announcing the formation of a disciplinary committee within the party amid concerns over internal discontent and possible organisational drift following the defeat.
“On the first day of the Assembly, wear black clothes. Those who betrayed will be removed from the party. I am laughing. I defeated them morally. I am a free bird. I worked for all. We might have lost but we will fight,” she said.
The swearing-in ceremony of West Bengal’s new Chief Minister will be held at Brigade Parade Ground on May 9 at 10 am, the BJP on Wednesday said.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said a meeting of the BJP Legislative Party will take place on May 7 to finalise leadership decisions ahead of the ceremony.
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