SUMMARY

All is not well within the INDIA alliance after the West Bengal election results were declared on May 4, with the BJP breaching Mamata's citadel with much pomp and show.

In Bengal, the BJP scripted history by winning 206 out of the total 294 assembly seats, whereas the TMC was reduced to 80 seats. 

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut blamed Mamata Banerjee’s failure to heed the warnings of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, over alleged "vote chori". He said Banerjee should have discussed the Gandhi scion’s repeated claims that the BJP "steals" elections, while Rahul later backed Banerjee’s charge that ‘vote chori’ took place in Bengal.

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Raut added that Banerjee should have held discussions with Rahul Gandhi on how to prevent the BJP from gaining power in the state. The remarks came after Banerjee alleged on Monday night that the BJP had "looted" more than 100 seats in West Bengal and termed the Election Commission (EC) "the BJP’s commission", calling the victory "immoral" and "illegal".

Rahul urged Congress workers and INDIA allies in a social media post not to gloat over the TMC’s loss, saying the alleged “theft” in Assam and Bengal was a step by the BJP to undermine democracy in India.

“Rahul Gandhi kept saying repeatedly (about vote chori). This was a very big mistake by Mamata Didi—that she did not listen to him. If Mamata Didi had sat down with Rahul Gandhi and discussed things, the results would have been different,” he said.

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Previously, Rahul had earlier claimed that there was ‘vote chori’ in at least 100 seats during the Lok Sabha elections, which, according to him, helped the BJP retain power. He had also alleged similar ‘vote chori’ in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. 

Calling Rahul a visionary leader, Raut also said the elections had been ‘stolen’ in both West Bengal and Tamil Nadu by the BJP. BJP won the Bengal elections while actor-turned-politician Vijay’s TVK emerged as the single largest party in Tamil Nadu, bringing an end to the MK Stalin-led government in the state. “Whatever Rahul Gandhi said has come true. He is a leader with foresight and vision. The elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have been stolen,” Raut added.

Priyanka Chaturvedi flagged the infighting within the opposition, saying such divisions weaken the broader anti-BJP front. “The kind of gloating coming from within own INDIA Alliance over the failure of TMC and DMK is shameful to see,” she said, flagging recent reactions to electoral setbacks.

Chaturvedi said that internal attacks and public criticism among allies only benefit the BJP. She urged parties to stay united ahead of key elections, saying the INDIA bloc was built on collective strength rather than rivalry and should function in that spirit going forward.

Moreover, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of rigging elections in its favour, citing the examples of Bihar, Maharashtra, and Bengal. 

"A major crisis looms across the country today. The way the Bharatiya Janata Party has hijacked and murdered democracy...For the past three or four months, we've been watching the chaos unfold in Bengal. They did the same in Bihar, Maharashtra. In my own assembly, before I went to jail, there were 1,48,000 votes. When I returned, there were 1,06,000 votes left. They got 42,000 votes cut within six months. I won by 30,000 votes last time. 42,000 votes were cancelled. I lost by 3,000 votes. How can you win? When you cancel all the votes, nothing will be left. This same chaos is going on throughout the country. Today, democracy is in crisis..."

Published on: May 5, 2026 5:52 PM IST