Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav held talks with TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and MP Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata on Thursday following the BJP’s crushing victory over the Trinamool Congress in the 2026 state assembly polls in West Bengal, putting an end to its 15-year reign in the state.
The meeting comes amid renewed efforts by Opposition parties to regroup following setbacks in multiple state elections and signals an attempt to reinforce coordination within the INDIA bloc.
According to ANI, Akhilesh Yadav alleged large-scale irregularities in the recently concluded elections and claimed that Opposition parties must unite against what he described as “election fraud”.
“I have just met Didi (Mamata Banerjee). Abhishek was also with me... Today, all of us, together, have to stand up to the election fraud,” Yadav said after the meeting.
#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav says, "...The way they insulted democracy and Didi (Mamata Banerjee), due to which her voters were not allowed to vote. This responsibility lies with the central forces. Will you conduct the elections in such a pic.twitter.com/2Zb7qBwtQj
— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2026
He further alleged that the BJP and its allies had manipulated the electoral process. “When the election happened honestly, she won, but this time, because of the multi-layered ‘mafiagiri’ that happened in the election, no one could have imagined that this kind of fraud could be done by the BJP, the Election Commission, their associates, the spies, and the underground people together,” he said, as quoted by ANI.
Opposition unity back in focus after Bengal verdict
Similarly, Akhilesh Yadav also drew connections between the West Bengal victory and happenings in Uttar Pradesh, where he contended that the BJP conducted their elections through a “trial” in Uttar Pradesh.
“What the BJP has done in Uttar Pradesh—the election was a betrayal. It was a trial for them. And they learned from it and looted the entire election,” he alleged.
Mamata questions mandate as BJP defends victory
In the meeting held at the Kalighat home of Mamata Banerjee, Yadav is reported to have congratulated the TMC leadership, saying that they had “fought very well” and expressed solidarity with the Bengal Chief Minister by saying, “Didi, you have not lost.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party won 207 seats in the 294-member assembly of West Bengal, comfortably crossing the majority mark and bringing an end to the TMC’s decade-and-a-half rule in the state. The Mamata Banerjee-led party was reduced to 80 seats.
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Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly questioned the election outcome and alleged irregularities in the polling process, while the BJP has dismissed the allegations and described the mandate as a decisive vote for political change in Bengal.
The meeting between Yadav and the TMC leadership is being viewed as part of broader Opposition efforts to rebuild momentum and maintain INDIA bloc unity ahead of future electoral battles.
