Mamata Banerjee's unwillingness to step down following the 2026 Bengal election, in which the Bharatiya Janata Party defeated her Trinamool, has created an exceptional constitutional dilemma that may be referred to Governor RN Ravi and possibly the Supreme Court for settlement.
At a news conference on Tuesday night, Banerjee maintained that she had not lost the election and that the BJP's stated mandate—207 of the state's 294 seats—was the product of an illicit campaign run by the Election Commission in cooperation with the saffron party.

"I will not visit Raj Bhavan, the governor's residence, because I have not lost." Leaning into the street-fighter persona that kept the BJP at bay for fifteen years, she declared, "I will not tender resignation."
Experts concur that this circumstance has no notable precedence in India.
What the regulations state
Remarkably, the Constitution contains no express clause requiring a chief minister to step down following an electoral defeat. At the heart of a peaceful transition of power, stepping down following an election defeat is customary rather than the norm, though this could soon change.The fundamental principle at play is that a chief minister must have the confidence of the legislative assembly to continue in his/her position. When results confirmed by the Election Commission demonstrate that this is not the case, the constitutional convention requests that they resign.
In the event that the chief minister declines to comply, as Banerjee has, the governor may take specific actions, such as suggesting President's Rule, which would suspend the legislature and place the state directly under federal authority.
However, that is a drastic measure and will probably be the last option.The chief minister and her cabinet are said to hold office "during the pleasure of the governor" under Article 164(1) of the Constitution, meaning the governor has the authority to remove them.
And in this instance, it is more possible that the governor will need Mamata Banerjee to demonstrate the majority she asserts on the House floor. He can then ask the leader of the majority party, in this case the BJP, to form the government if she is unable to do so.
Mamata Banerjee will assert that she has that support, but the BJP will contend that she does not. The leader of the Trinamool has claimed that the results for 100 seats were "stolen," meaning they were tampered with through voter roll revisions imposed by the EC and other purportedly unlawful methods.

The Trinamool received just 80 seats from the EC, falling 68 seats short of the majority.
She accused the poll panel of engaging in "nasty games" on Monday night and cited non-BJP combinations' losses in the most recent elections in Bihar, Haryana, and Maharashtra. "Democracy does not operate in this manner. The world receives the incorrect message when the court is absent, the Election Commission is biased, and the central government desires one-party rule.
The 71-year-old further said that while the votes were being counted at a voting place, she was attacked. "My back and abdomen were kicked. The security camera was not in use. I was ejected from the counting station.For the next 48 hours, though, she did not provide any more details about her plan. There is not much time left to resolve this situation because the current Bengal Assembly's term ends on May 7.