Hundreds of people have been arrested after post-election violence broke out in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. At least three people were killed this week, including Suvendu Adhikari, a leader of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The violence followed an election in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP defeated the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She has been in power in West Bengal since 2011.
Mamata Banerjee has refused to resign and said she has “not been defeated.” She also accused the Election Commission of working with the BJP to influence the election result.
Police chief Siddh Nath Gupta said on May 6 that more than 200 criminal cases have been filed across the state related to the violence. He added that 433 people have been arrested so far.
The BJP has accused the TMC of carrying out “targeted assassinations,” while the TMC has strongly denied this. The party said the violence is being done by “BJP-backed miscreants.”
West Bengal has a long history of violence after elections. In the 2021 elections, about a dozen people were killed in similar clashes between political groups after results were announced.