Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday purportedly said that her decision not to resign as chief minister was a gesture of protest, intended to ensure her dismissal was recorded and remembered as a black day in Bengal's history.
She suggested taking the fight against the Assembly poll results — what she dubbed a counting "manipulation" that robbed the Trinamool Congress of around 100 seats — to the Supreme Court.
At a meeting with her party's newly elected MLAs in her residence, which was convened to decide on the post of leader of the Opposition ahead of the start of the new Assembly, she was quoted as saying: "I won’t go and resign. Let them dismiss me.... This result is not a mandate, but a manipulation."
"I want this to be remembered as a black day," she purportedly said, adding Trinamool MLAs should attend the first day of the House dressed in black. "I am laughing. I defeated them morally, by smiling."
Her nephew and Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, also present at the meeting, was quoted as saying: "This (the decision not to resign) is our way of protest against the forceful stealth of our mandate. Be patient, stay the course. It won't take long to go from 80 to 230 (MLAs) again," he purportedly added.
Sources said 11 of the 80 newly elected Trinamool MLAs did not show up, which initially caused some apprehensions of defections. However, it was later ascertained that they couldn't make it as they were informed at the last minute.
"We will go to court with the results, seeking a countermand.... We could approach the Supreme Court. We might lose, but we will still fight," a source quoted Mamata as saying. "If needed, we will go to an international court."
A Trinamool insider said Mamata took umbrage at some leaders publicly criticising the decision — primarily Abhishek's — to allow the party to be driven by poll consultant I-PAC. The heavy reliance on the consultant — made to sit out of the last lap of the Bengal election, allegedly because of coercive measures of the saffron regime — cost the party dearly, many said.
Many among the party's rank and file have been saying that the results made it clear that Abhishek's idea — primarily — to drop 74 sitting MLAs, bring in new faces, including some with questionable credibility, and relocate 15 others, failed spectacularly. Of the 74 replacements, 51 lost. Among the 15 relocated MLAs, only three won.
"She (Mamata) formed a five-member disciplinary committee led by Derek (O'Brien) to act against anybody who speaks against the party in public," said an insider.
However, in the evening, the committee issued a statement disowning such remarks.
"She made everyone in the meeting give Abhishek a standing ovation for his hard work in the campaign. This will not go down well," the insider added.
Mamata repeated many of her malpractice allegations against the BJP, the Election Commission of India, central forces, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.
"This was not an election but an atrocity spearheaded by Modi and Shah, implemented by the villain (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar," she was quoted as saying. "Delhi is the next target and as INDIA we will, together, fight," she purportedly said, adding that every major player in the national Opposition was in touch with her, expressing solidarity.
She underscored the difference between Trinamool and the BJP was only 32.11 lakh votes, when over 27 lakh voters, excluded for “logical discrepancies” in the SIR could not vote because their appeals could not be heard in time, and 5.46 lakh voters had earlier been deleted during the post-enumeration hearings.
Mamata lost from Bhabanipur — which saw about 51,000 deletions — to Suvendu Adhikari by 15,015 votes.
"They have brought outsiders, running amok, carrying out bulldozer riots already... this is the change they represent," she was quoted as saying. "They are smashing Lenin's statues — we never did this — and smearing the faces of Netaji, Gandhiji statues with saffron colours. I urge you to stay on the ground and fight this, tooth and nail, for the people in this darkest hour of Bengal."