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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi

‘Defeated by conspiracy’: West Bengal chief minister refuses to resign after election loss

Mamata Banerjee speaking into a microphone during a press conference
Mamata Banerjee has built a reputation over decades as a tough, street-fighting politician. Photograph: Sahiba Chawdhary/Reuters

A political showdown is taking place in the Indian state of West Bengal as the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, India’s most powerful female politician, has refused to resign after she lost elections to the prime minister’s party this week.

Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) won an overwhelming victory on Monday in state elections in West Bengal, where Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress party (TMC) have been in power for 15 years.

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