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Maharashtra Congress MLA Amin Patel on Saturday alleged that the "mistakes" All India Trinamool Congress' (AITC) prevented a proper "alignment" of INDIA bloc in West Bengal, which ultimately led to the party's defeat. Patel said that in view of the Congress being a national party, AITC chief Mamata Banerjee failed to coordinate with the INDIA bloc leadership ahead of the Bengal elections. AITC is part of INDIA bloc in the Centre, but the party had decided to contest the April 23 and 29 assembly elections independently.
Speaking to ANI, Patel said that Banerjee should have held discussions with senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, much earlier regarding the West Bengal elections. "Congress is a national party. Mamata Banerjee should have sat down with Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss the Bengal elections long ago, which she didn't do," Patel said. He further alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party has benefited politically in West Bengal due to Banerjee's approach and accused the TMC leadership of not aligning properly with the INDIA alliance. "The BJP government in Bengal today deserves more credit from Mamata Banerjee than from the BJP itself. Mamata Banerjee's mistakes have prevented her from forming a government in Bengal, as she didn't properly align with the INDIA alliance," he added. Suvendu Adhikari today took oath as the state's first BJP Chief Minister on May 9, marking an end to 15 years of TMC rule. Five BJP leaders, Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Kshudiram Tudu and Nisith Pramanik, also took oath as ministers in the West Bengal cabinet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, JP Nadda and Dharmendra Pradhan attended the swearing-in. Chief Ministers, including Manik Saha (Tripura) and Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Rekha Gupta (Delhi), Pushkar Dhami (Uttarakhand) and several other leaders were also present. Following the swearing-in ceremony, the Prime Minister also met the families of slain BJP workers Debasish Mondal, Soumitra Ghoshal and Ananda Paul. Governor RN Ravi swore in Adhikari at a grand ceremony in Kolkata attended by Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several senior BJP leaders. The BJP secured a historic victory in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, winning 207 seats and ending the Trinamool Congress's 15-year rule in the state. The TMC secured 80 seats in the elections. Adhikari had defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes and also retained the Nandigram Assembly seat. (ANI)
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