Kolkata, May 8:
As outgoing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to submit her resignation following the Assembly election results, Governor RN Ravi on Thursday dissolved the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, paving the way for the formation of a new government in the state.
The Governor issued an order dissolving the Assembly with effect from May 7, even as the BJP, which secured a landslide majority and is set to form its first government in the state, intensified preparations for the swearing-in ceremony.
According to BJP sources, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to arrive in Kolkata later in the day, while a meeting of newly-elected BJP legislators is likely to be held tomorrow to elect the legislative party leader.
The political developments came a day after Mamata Banerjee addressed a meeting of newly-elected MLAs of her party and declared that she would not resign from the post despite the electoral setback.
Trinamool Congress sources said Banerjee alleged that party candidates “were forcefully defeated” and claimed that more than 1,500 Trinamool Congress offices had been “hijacked”.