West Bengal Governor dissolves state assembly

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 8 (HBTV): West Bengal Governor RN Ravi on Thursday dissolved the Legislative Assembly ahead of the formation of a new government in the state.

The Governor issued an order dissolving the West Bengal Legislative Assembly with effect from May 7.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won a landslide majority and is set to form its first government in the state, has stepped up preparations for the oath-taking ceremony.

Party sources said Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to reach Kolkata later in the day, and a meeting of newly elected MLAs is likely to be held on Friday to elect the legislative party leader.

Outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressed a meeting of newly elected MLAs of her party and stated that she would not resign from her post in the wake of the Assembly poll results, and that the Centre could dismiss her, Trinamool Congress sources said on Wednesday.

According to the sources, Mamata Banerjee stated that party candidates ‘were forcefully defeated’ in the polls and alleged that more than 1,500 Trinamool Congress offices ‘were hijacked’.

She also said that there is greater unity in the INDIA bloc after the Bengal poll results.

She alleged that the state did not witness an election ‘but an atrocity’ and claimed that the Trinamool Congress had ‘morally’ defeated the BJP in the polls.

The Trinamool Congress leader said she would continue her fight. ‘After the Bengal polls, the INDIA bloc is united now. I will not 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,’ she said, according to party sources.

According to Trinamool Congress sources, she also alleged that she was ‘heckled and pushed’.

‘Those who lost were forcefully defeated. I condemn West Bengal Police, CRPF, BJP-minded Chief Electoral Officer and ECI. More than 1,500 party offices were hijacked. I was heckled and pushed. I was having chest pain. This was not an election but an atrocity,’ she said.

Mamata Banerjee’s refusal to step down had created an unprecedented situation and a constitutional crisis in the state. (ANI)