‘You have not lost, Didi’: Akhilesh Yadav meets Mamata Banerjee, backs her poll rigging allegations after Bengal setback
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘You have not lost, Didi’: Akhilesh Yadav meets Mamata Banerjee, backs her poll rigging allegations after Bengal setback")
Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav meets West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee, in Kolkata on Thursday. TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee also present. Photograph: (ANI)
Alleging fraud and poll rigging through alleged collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission, Mamata Banerjee earlier said she would neither resign nor step down as Chief Minister by submitting her resignation to the Governor.
In a show of solidarity with a fellow INDIA bloc ally after the Trinamool Congress’ defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday backed Mamata Banerjee and alleged large-scale electoral manipulation by the BJP and the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Speaking after meeting Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee at the Chief Minister’s residence in Kolkata, Yadav claimed the elections were influenced through what he described as “multi-layered mafiagiri”.
“Today, all Opposition leaders must stand together against election fraud. When elections were held honestly, Didi won. This time, no one could have imagined such manipulation involving the BJP, the Election Commission and others working together,” Yadav said.
“You have not lost, Didi. Aap haari nahi hain,” Yadav said, backing Banerjee’s stance that the election outcome did not reflect the true public mandate.
The remarks came days after the BJP secured a historic victory in West Bengal, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule in the state. The BJP won 207 seats with a 45.84 per cent vote share, while the TMC was reduced to 80 seats with 40.8 per cent votes.
A day after the results were declared, Banerjee said she would neither resign nor vacate the Chief Minister’s post. Addressing reporters in Kolkata on Tuesday, she alleged that the BJP used official machinery to influence the outcome.
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“We did not lose the election. They may have defeated us officially through the Election Commission, but morally we have won,” Banerjee had said.
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She also revealed that several INDIA bloc leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Uddhav Thackeray, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav and Hemant Soren, contacted her after the results.
Akhilesh compares Bengal polls with UP elections
Yadav alleged that the BJP had earlier experimented with similar tactics during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
“What happened in Uttar Pradesh was a betrayal. They treated it as a trial and later expanded the same strategy elsewhere,” he said.
The SP chief also alleged misuse of administrative machinery and irregular deployment of central forces during the Bengal polls.
“We raised complaints against several officials during the Uttar Pradesh elections, but no action was taken. In Bengal, they completely took over the system. Even central forces were kept deployed for unusually long periods,” he claimed.
Reacting to the killing of Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant Chandranath Rath, Yadav held Union Home Minister Amit Shah responsible and demanded accountability.
“How did Suvendu Adhikari’s PA get murdered? The Home Minister must answer how this happened,” he said.
