Several Opposition leaders have backed Mamata Banerjee’s refusal to resign after the Trinamool Congress’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls, questioning the fairness of the electoral process and alleging institutional bias.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut called it a part of her protest against the Centre and the Election Commission (EC).

Speaking to reporters, Raut said that it is necessary to unite against the "dictatorship of the Centre and partisan behaviour of the Election Commission".

The poll body has become a "slave" of the Centre and the Opposition has to decide whether it has to contest the polls or not, the Rajya Sabha MP said.

"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.

Alleging that the West Bengal assembly poll verdict was "not a people's mandate but a conspiracy", TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday had refused to resign as chief minister, opening up a constitutional grey zone and a political confrontation in the state.

Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray called up Mamata and extended support and almost all the INDIA bloc leaders have called Banerjee and extended their support, Raut said.

"We have to come together if we have to unite against the dictatorship of the Centre and the partisan behaviour of the EC or the way the poll body has become slaves of the government," Raut said.

NCP (SP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase claimed that democratic processes were undermined in Bengal, and central agencies and administrative machinery were used to influence the poll outcome.

Speaking to reporters, he stressed the need for a detailed analysis.

Institutions such as the EC and agencies like the CBI, Income Tax Department, Enforcement Directorate and CRPF were used in a manner that put pressure on the electoral process, the leader from Sharad Pawar's party alleged.

Drawing a parallel with Maharashtra, he said similar circumstances had prevailed there earlier and were now being witnessed in West Bengal.

Tapase claimed voters were prevented from exercising their franchise freely due to the presence and actions of central forces and agencies, raising concerns over the fairness of the election.

Questioning the fairness of the West Bengal Assembly polls, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday demanded that the Supreme Court take immediate cognisance of the poll process and that the video recording of vote counting be made available to the people.

"When court proceedings have gone live, why can't vote counting go live?" Yadav said while addressing a press conference here.

"Why is CCTV not live? Why are they so afraid of it? Our demand is that the Supreme Court should immediately take cognisance of the West Bengal polls and put the video of the counting in front of the people of the country," he said.

"These people have done what they did in West Bengal and the way they influenced the elections and changed the atmosphere - they have now been exposed," Yadav said.

Responding to a question on whether he would meet Banerjee, Yadav said he would visit West Bengal.

"I will go to West Bengal," Akhilesh said.

TMC's Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sagarika Ghose accused the Election Commission of "rigging" the West Bengal polls and said Mamata Banerjee's refusal to resign as chief minister will stand as a "pointed indictment" of the act.

Ghose quoted Banerjee "I haven't lost and I won't resign", and added, "The single sentence that will stand in history as the sharpest and most pointed indictment of the way the BJP-EC brazenly rigged the Bengal Election of 2026."

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday had also come out in support of the TMC, and urged those gloating over the loss of Mamata Banerjee's party to put petty politics aside.

A day after the BJP sealed a landslide victory with 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, ending the Trinamool Congress's uninterrupted 15-year rule, Mamata Banerjee dismissed the outcome as "engineered" and asserted that her party was fighting the Election Commission, not the BJP.

The TMC could only manage 80 seats.

"Why should I step down? We have not lost. The mandate has been looted. Where does the question of resignation arise," she said, doubling down on her refusal to vacate the office.

Banerjee alleged large-scale irregularities in counting, claiming nearly 100 seats were "looted" and that the pace of counting was deliberately slowed to sap her party's morale.

"Why should I step down? We have not lost. The mandate has been looted. Where does the question of resignation arise?" she said, doubling down on her refusal to vacate the office.

"The question of my resignation does not arise, as we were defeated not by a public mandate but by a conspiracy…I did not lose, I will not go to Lok Bhavan," she asserted at a packed press conference, her tone oscillating between grievance and combativeness.

To this, BJP had attacked the outgoing CM over her statement that she would not resign despite her party's defeat, calling the stand "anarchic" and against India's democratic traditions. They had also said that she was making herself a "laughing stock".