In West Bengal Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) suffered a massive set back in this year assembly election 2026. It lost to the BJP by a big margin. Banerjee’s party was reduced to 80 seats in the 294-member West Bengal Legislative Assembly. The BJP won 207 seats. But n ow Mamat alleging that the election had not been fair, so she will not resign from Chief Minister post.
Mamata in a press conference said that she will not visit Raj Bhawan. Mamata alleged that prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were directly interfering in the West Bengal election. She blamed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for all the mess. She also said the TMC would set up a fact-finding mission and the next steps would be decided after discussion within the party.
But the question arise what will happens if after an Assembly election, the sitting CM refuses to resign? Here’s what the Constitution says.
What are the Constitutional provisions?
Article 172 of the Constitution of India fixes the Legislative Assembly’s five-year term. This also frames the tenure of a Chief Minister.
According to Article 164 of the Constitution, the Chief Minister holds office during the pleasure of the Governor, which is contingent on majority support in the Assembly. “The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister, and the Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor.”
In this election Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also lost from the Bhabanipur seat. The Congress has won two seats, Humayun Kabir’s Aam Janata Unnayan Party won two seats, and the CPI(M) and All India Secular Front won one each.
With the TMC losing elections and, thus, majority in Assembly, Banerjee’s continuation in office would be against the constitutional requirement of holding the CM’s post.
Moreover, the Governor has the power to invite the majority party to form the government once results are officially notified. In that case Mamata’s refusal to resign may not even matter.
