Hundreds arrested after post-poll violence kills at least three in Bengal

  • Members of security forces stop vehicles as they stand guard along a road leading to the site where an aide of Suvendu Adhikari, a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal state, was shot dead days after the BJP secured a majority in the state assembly elections, in North 24 Parganas, on the outskirts of Kolkata, India, May 7, 2026. (Photo: Reuters)
  • Members of security forces stop a delivery personnel as they stand guard along a road leading to the site where an aide of Suvendu Adhikari, a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal state, was shot dead days after the BJP secured a majority in the state assembly elections, in North 24 Parganas, on the outskirts of Kolkata, India, May 7, 2026. (Photo: Reuters)
  • Members of security forces stop vehicles as they stand guard along a road leading to the site where an aide of Suvendu Adhikari, a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal state, was shot dead days after the BJP secured a majority in the state assembly elections, in North 24 Parganas, on the outskirts of Kolkata, India, May 7, 2026. (Photo: Reuters)
  • Members of security forces stand guard along a road leading to the site where an aide of Suvendu Adhikari, a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal state, was shot dead days after the BJP secured a majority in the state assembly elections, in North 24 Parganas, on the outskirts of Kolkata, India, May 7, 2026. (Photo: Reuters)
  • Members of security forces stop vehicles as they stand guard along a road leading to the site where an aide of Suvendu Adhikari, a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal state, was shot dead days after the BJP secured a majority in the state assembly elections, in North 24 Parganas, on the outskirts of Kolkata, India, May 7, 2026. (Photo: Reuters)

NEW DELHI, May 7 (Reuters) – Hundreds of people were arrested after post-election violence erupted this ​week in West Bengal state, killing ‌at least three people, including the aide to a senior leader of Prime Minister Narendra ​Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

Here are some ​details.

  • Modi’s BJP defeated incumbent Chief Minister Mamata ⁠Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the election in ​West Bengal state, where she has held ​power since 2011.
  • Banerjee has refused to resign, saying she has “not been defeated” and accusing the Election Commission ​of colluding with the BJP to win ​the election.
  • More than 200 criminal cases have been registered ‌across ⁠the state for the violence and 433 people have been arrested, police chief Siddh Nath Gupta told reporters on Wednesday.
  • BJP ​has accused ​the TMC ⁠of carrying out “targeted assassinations”.
  • TMC has condemned the violence that it ​says is being carried out by “BJP-backed ​miscreants”.
  • West ⁠Bengal has a history of post-election violence, and about a dozen people were killed ⁠during ​similar clashes between political ​parties after results were declared during the previous polls in ​2021.
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T.K.B. Sen

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