"Told Party I Don't Want To Continue As Chief Minister": Mamata Banerjee

Mamata Banerjee, addressing her first press conference after her party's national election setback in Bengal, said she did not want to continue as Chief Minister and had told her Trinamool Congress that.

"I have told my party, for six months I have been unable to work. I was a powerless Chief Minister. I cannot accept that. I don't want to continue as Chief Minister. The chair is nothing for me. Party symbol is most important for me," Mamata Banerjee told reporters.

The BJP scored a remarkable tally in West Bengal, a long-term Left stronghold turned Trinamool territory. It won 18 of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats, in a massive improvement over its 2014 tally of two seats. Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool won only a few more, 22.

Mamata Banerjee questioned the fairness of the election.

"I can only continue if people are willing to take a bold step. We need to increase our vote share. BJP's vote has come from the Left. This is mathematics," said the Chief Minister.

The BJP has won 303 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha and along with its allies, it has 352.

"I can't accept this. How can BJP win so many seats in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana? People are scared to speak but I am not."

Ms Banerjee said she wanted to concentrate more on her party.

"One party that did not commit anything, won seats. I think, I have done more for people. Now I need to work for my party," she was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

The leader viewed the BJP's stellar performance in West Bengal with suspicion.

"This huge victory is not beyond suspicion. It is quite astonishing how opposition is completely wiped out in several states," she claimed.

PM Modi on Saturday met President Ram Nath Kovind and staked a claim to form a government at the centre. The President later informed in a tweet that Narendra Modi has been appointed to the office of Prime Minister of India.