West Bengal erupted in violence following the Bharatiya Janata Party's electoral victory over the incumbent Trinamool Congress in state legislative elections. A top BJP political aide was shot dead in the streets, and hundreds have been arrested as clashes broke out across the state during the transition of power from 15 years of TMC rule.

West Bengal CM refuses to resign after poll defeat NEW DELHI: The chief minister of West Bengal, who was swept from power this week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in state elections, said on Tuesday that she had “not been defeated” and would not resign, in an unprecedented political twist. The BJP defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has been in power in West Bengal since 2011, securing more than two-thirds of the 294 seats when votes were counted on Monday. The BJP has never ruled West Bengal, a populous eastern state that borders Bangladesh, and its victory is considered a political milestone as the party now controls almost all states in eastern India.