Akhilesh Yadav meets Mamata Banerjee, alleges Bengal poll fraud

Kolkata, May 7: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav met Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence here on Thursday, expressing solidarity after her party's defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections and alleging widespread electoral fraud by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission.

The BJP secured 207 of the 294 seats in the state assembly, claiming a two-thirds majority to form its first government in West Bengal and ending the TMC's 15-year rule. The TMC won 80 seats. Yadav, a former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, was received by TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who also attended the meeting. Sources present said Yadav told Banerjee, "Didi, you have not lost," and praised Abhishek for putting up a strong fight.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Yadav accused the BJP, Election Commission, central forces, and others of using "multilayered mafia tactics" to manipulate the polls, drawing parallels to the Uttar Pradesh elections. "When the election happened honestly, she won. But this time, due to the multilayered mafiagiri, no one could have imagined that this kind of fraud could be done by the BJP, the Election Commission, their...