Mamata calls Bengal election 'farce', announced media boycott, saying "my weapon is Facebook"

Twenty days after the assembly election results were declared, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee reappeared in the public eye via a Facebook Live session. Breaking her nearly three-week-long silence, the former Chief Minister launched a scathing attack on the BJP government and the National Election Commission. She alleged that the electoral process was manipulated, claiming that her party was originally on track to win between 220 and 230 seats before the "dice were turned" against them.

During the broadcast, Banerjee characterized the recent elections as a "farce" and accused the Election Commission of hacking data to influence the outcome. She expressed deep concern for the state of the administration, noting that citizens are living in fear regarding their jobs and businesses. Her grievances extended to the treatment of party workers, alleging that over two thousand TMC supporters have been arrested and party offices have been demolished in the wake of the BJP's victory.

The Trinamool leader also took a firm stance on religious and civil rights, criticizing recent moves to limit the volume of the call to prayer and demanding uniform rules for all. She specifically highlighted the arrest of Sudeep Polle and the displacement of hawkers as evidence of systemic oppression. Expressing a complete lack of faith in traditional media, she declared that she would no longer address them, choosing instead to use Facebook as her primary "weapon" for future communication. Banerjee concluded her session by demanding a full report on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), asserting that the current authorities have "looted Bengal."