The outgoing chief ministers of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala – Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan – had a quiet day on Wednesday, meeting party leaders and reviewing their losses in the recently concluded Assembly elections. In contrast, outgoing Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, buoyed by his party’s success, met the governor and tendered his resignation, paving the way for the formation of the new government.
In West Bengal, Banerjee refused to resign from his position as Prime Minister despite the landslide victory achieved by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent legislative elections. On Wednesday, she held a meeting with newly elected Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislators and senior leaders at her residence to discuss the party’s future strategy, organizational restructuring and distribution of responsibilities after its worst electoral setback since it came to power in 2011, party functionaries said.
In the closed-door meeting, Banerjee claimed that the BJP “looted” ballot boxes and indicated that the party would move the Supreme Court of India, officials said. The term of the current West Bengal Assembly ends on Thursday.
Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson and newly elected Beliagatha MLA, defended her decision, calling it a “language of protest” in a democracy. “Mamata Didi not submitting her resignation is a language of protest. It is symbolic,” he told reporters after the meeting.
On Monday, the BJP won 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule in West Bengal. The TMC won only 80 seats, with Banerjee losing her Bhabanipur constituency.
In Tamil Nadu, Stalin, whose Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) faced a crushing defeat at the hands of actor-turned-politician Vijay Tamilaja Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) in the April 23 Assembly elections, met alliance partner DMDK leader Premalatha Vijayakanth and former chief O Panneerselvam, who joined the DMK in the run-up to the elections and won from the Bhudinayakanur seat, party leaders said.
Later in the day, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth visited Stalin at his residence in Chennai and expressed solidarity with the DMK chief in “difficult times”, the party leaders added.
The previous day, Stalin met with senior party leaders to review the KDP’s defeat. He also met the newly elected MLAs of the Left and Indian Union Muslim League parties
Vijay’s TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly, while the DMK managed only 59 seats. The AIADMK won 47 seats.
In Kerala, outgoing Chief Minister Vijayan, whose resignation was accepted by Governor Rajendra Arlikar, attended the State Secretariat meeting of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday to review the party’s defeat. Vijayan is yet to issue a statement on the loss. When asked about his silence, Communist Party of India (CPI) state minister MV Govindan said: “He will respond at the appropriate time.”
Vijayan returned to the state capital on Tuesday, a day after the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) lost to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), which won 102 seats in the 140-member assembly compared to the LDF’s 35 seats. Party leaders said he abandoned his official residence and car and moved to the party’s residence.
In Assam, Sarma met Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya and tendered his resignation, paving the way for the formation of a new BJP-led government. He said the swearing-in ceremony would likely take place on May 12.
“The newly elected members of the BJP will meet soon to choose a leader for the legislative party. Once this is done, the BJP and its allies, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), will meet again with the governor to demand formation of the government.”
The BJP-led NDA won 102 seats in the 126-member Assam Assembly in the April 9 elections.
(With inputs from state offices and PTI)
