Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday reiterated that she will not resign from her post despite her party’s defeat in the Assembly elections, describing the poll outcome as unjust and vowing to continue her fight.

At a meeting with newly elected MLAs of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), Banerjee launched a scathing attack on authorities, alleging widespread irregularities during the elections.

"Those who lost were forcefully defeated. I condemn the West Bengal Police, CRPF, BJP-minded Chief Electoral Officer and ECI. More than 1500 party offices were hijacked. I was heckled and pushed. I was having chest pain. This was not an election but an atrocity,” ANI reported, citing AITC sources.

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In a defiant message, she made it clear that she would not step down and called for a united response from her party and allies.

"After the Bengal INDIA team is united now. I won’t resign. Let them dismiss me. I want this to be a black day. We have to be strong. 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. HM and PM are directly involved."

Her remarks come a day after she refused to quit, alleging that the election verdict was “not a people’s mandate but a conspiracy.”

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The Opposition rallied behind Banerjee, with Sanjay Raut backing her stand and calling it part of a broader protest against the Centre and the Election Commission. He said the Opposition must unite against the “dictatorship of the Centre and partisan behaviour of the Election Commission.”

"Mamata Banerjee not resigning is part of her agitation against the government (Centre), the Election Commission (EC) and a series of acts against democracy," Raut said.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party criticised her decision, with senior leader Mangal Prabhat Lodha saying that refusing to resign after defeat would go against constitutional norms and that the people of Bengal had delivered a decisive verdict.

The BJP secured a landslide victory in the 294-member Assembly with 207 seats, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule, while the ruling party was reduced to 80 seats.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra accused the TMC of attempting to incite post-poll violence by disguising its workers as BJP supporters to malign the party. He claimed that BJP cadres had never engaged in violence after electoral victories.