New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday slammed Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee over her “stubbornness” after she ruled out the possibility of voluntarily tendering her resignation to the Governor as the outgoing Chief Minister.
Pradhan said that the “resistance to accountability” and the refusal to accept the public’s mandate by the Trinamool Congress is an example of how democracy in Bengal “is being held at gunpoint”.
In a post on X, Pradhan said, “Democracy in Bengal is being held at gunpoint, and the refusal to accept the electoral verdict lays this reality bare. Mandates are being treated less like the people’s voice and more like suggestions open to rejection. The refusal of Mamata Banerjee to accept the spirit of the mandate raises a serious question: Is power being treated as a responsibility or merely as an entitlement?”
Earlier, during a press conference on Tuesday, Mamata said that the “defeat” of Trinamool Congress this time was not a “defeat” in the real sense, as the results did not reflect the true public mandate. Speaking on the occasion, she also said that the contest of Trinamool Congress in this election was more against the Election Commission of India (ECI) rather than against the BJP.
Reacting to this, the Union Minister said, “People of Bengal would’ve expected humility after a public mandate. What we are witnessing instead is resistance to accountability by the Trinamool Congress. In the process of clinging to power, Mamata Banerjee is not just rejecting the people’s mandate but also attempting to erode the credibility of institutions like the Election Commission of India and security forces, undermining the very pillars that ensure free, fair and secure elections.”
Bengal, according to Pradhan, had “long been subjected” to a governance model marked by “intimidation, syndicate networks and entrenched political patronage”.
Referring to Mamata, the Union Minister said, “Her defiance is not an exception. It is the clearest confirmation of that very system. A true democrat bows to the people. A dictator clings to office despite them.”
He said that the mandate of Bengal is a “rejection of fear, a rejection of coercion and a demand for accountability”.
“To ignore it is to undermine the very foundation of democratic legitimacy. The Constitution of India does not recognise stubbornness as a virtue in governance. Accountability is not optional, and mandates are non-negotiable,” Pradhan added.
This came as the BJP is set to form the next government in West Bengal with a decisive two-thirds majority, ending the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule in the state.
In the 294-member Assembly, the majority mark stands at 196. Results were declared for 293 constituencies on Monday, with repolling scheduled in the Falta seat of South 24 Parganas district on May 21, as announced by the Election Commission of India, with counting for that seat due on May 24.
Of the declared results, the BJP secured 206 seats, comfortably ahead of the Trinamool Congress, which managed 81. Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee lost her Bhabanipur seat to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari by over 15,000 votes.
Notably, the Trinamool Congress failed to win a single seat in ten districts, including Cooch Behar, East Midnapore, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling, and also lost all tribal- and Matua-dominated constituencies.
(IANS)
