Mamata Banerjee is all set to move the Supreme Court against the BJP and the Election Commission (EC) over the result of the West Bengal elections.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo announced the decision on Wednesday at a crucial review meeting with party officials at her residence.
"Let them enforce President's rule (in the state) but it should be recorded in official documents," she was quoted as saying at the meeting, opening the possibility of Article 356 being imposed in the state, which could hinder the entry of a new BJP CM.
This comes after Banerjee refused to resign from her post after the BJP's historic 207-seat sweep in the state after two phases of polling in West Bengal on April 23 and 29.
"The BJP has rigged the elections and forcibly snatched the mandate," she added, saying that she would pursue the case legally alongside TMC allies such as Chandrima Bhattacharya and others.
She also stated that despite the setback at the state level, the main target for the TMC was Delhi, where it would continue the struggle for what she called a "stolen mandate" under the INDIA alliance.
“It doesn’t matter whether she resigns or not. The Constitution says a government cannot continue after five years,” PDT Acharya, former Secretary-General of Lok Sabha, told PTI.
Banerjee had also spoken about her refusal to resign at a party meeting on Tuesday. Her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee expressed agreement at that meeting, as the party mulls protests against the "rigged" mandate.
"Remaining in power is a sign of our opposition," he had said, also urging party leaders not to step down from their previous designations.
Only time will tell if this could impact the BJP's plans to conduct the oath-taking ceremony for the state's first-ever saffron CM on May 9.
“The Prime Minister has already announced the day, Pochishe Boisakh, May 9. It is the birthday of Rabindranath Tagore. It will be held on that day. It was our old commitment that we would run the government from the Writers’ Buildings,” West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya has said.
However, TMC ministers have been instructed to play Rabindra sangeet across party offices on that day, as another sign of protest against the BJP.
With inputs from Prema Rajaram