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 CM 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 as chief minister despite the Bharatiya Janata Party’s sweeping victory in the recent assembly polls. 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, organisational restructuring, and allocation of responsibilities after its worst electoral setback since coming to power in 2011, party functionaries said.
Banerjee claimed in the closed-door meeting that the BJP had “looted” the polls and indicated that the party would move the Supreme Court of India, the functionaries said. The term of the current West Bengal Assembly ends on Thursday.
TMC spokesperson and newly elected Beliaghata MLA Kunal Ghosh defended her decision, calling it a “language of protest” in a democracy. “Mamata didi not tendering her resignation is a protest language. 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 uninterrupted 15-year rule in West Bengal. The TMC secured only 80 seats, with Banerjee losing her home constituency of Bhabanipur.
In Tamil Nadu, Stalin, whose Dravida Munnetra Kazgham (DMK) faced a crushing defeat at the hands of actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the April 23 assembly polls, met alliance partner DMDK leader Premmallatha Vijayakanth and former CM O Panneerselvam, who joined the DMK in the run-up to the polls and won from Bhodinayakkanur seat, party leaders said.
Later in the day, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth called on Stalin at his residence in Chennai and expressed solidarity with the DMK chief in “difficult times”, the party leaders added.
A day earlier, Stalin had met senior party leaders to review the DMK’s defeat. He also met newly elected MLAs of the Left parties and the Indian Union Muslim League
Vijay’s TVK won 108 seats in 234-member assembly, while the DMK could manage only 59. The AIADMK won 47 seats.
In Kerala, outgoing chief minister Vijayan, whose resignation has been accepted by Governor Rajendra Arlekar, attended a state secretariat meeting of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday to review the party’s defeat. Vijayan has not yet issued a statement on the loss. When asked about his silence, CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan said: “He would respond in due course.”
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. He gave up his official residence and vehicle and moved into a party accommodation, party leaders said.
In Assam, Sarma met Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya and submitted his resignation, paving the way for the formation of a new BJP-led government. He said the swearing-in ceremony is likely to take place on May 12.
“The newly elected MLAs of BJP will soon meet to select a leader of the legislature party. Once that is done, the BJP and our allies, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF), will again meet the Governor to stake claim to form the government,” Sarma added.
The BJP-led NDA won 102 seats in the 126-member Assam Assembly in the April 9 polls.
(With inputs from state bureaus and PTI)
