Bengal Assembly dissolved as Mamata skips resignation after poll rout

West Bengal Governor RN Ravi on Thursday dissolved the state legislative assembly following the completion of its five-year term, days after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to submit her resignation despite her party’s crushing defeat in the assembly elections.

Banerjee had earlier said she would not follow convention by visiting Raj Bhavan to formally resign as chief minister after the Trinamool Congress suffered a landslide loss to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Her decision meant there was no formal occasion for the governor to request that she continue as caretaker chief minister until a new government is sworn in.

“In exercise of the powers conferred upon the Governor under sub-clause (b) of clause (2) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India, RN Ravi, Governor of West Bengal, has issued an order dissolving the West Bengal Legislative Assembly with effect from May 7, 2026,” the governor’s office said in a statement issued from Kolkata.

The BJP is expected to form the new government, with party leaders indicating that the swearing-in ceremony is likely to be held on May 9 at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Grounds — coinciding with the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

A senior government official said the governor would act as the state’s executive authority during the interim period until the new administration takes office.

The BJP’s emphatic victory saw it win 207 seats against the TMC’s 80, marking a historic political shift in the state. The result was driven by strong Hindu voter consolidation, gains in Mamata Banerjee’s south Bengal stronghold, public anger over alleged grassroots corruption, and growing anti-incumbency sentiment after 15 years of TMC rule.

Adding to the setback, Banerjee lost her own Bhabanipur seat to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari by a margin of 15,000 votes.

A day after the results, Banerjee accused the Election Commission of India and central security forces of helping the BJP secure victory.

“If we have not lost the election, then why should I go to Raj Bhavan? I am not taking oath. And why do I have to resign? We didn’t lose. It is their forceful attempt to defeat us. Our fight was not against BJP but against the EC,” she told reporters at her residence on Tuesday.

Defending her stance, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh on Wednesday described the refusal to resign as a symbolic protest.

“Mamata didi not tendering her resignation is a language of protest. It is symbolic. This is a protest against the way the Election Commission allegedly manipulated the results in more than 100 constituencies during counting,” Ghosh said.