By Shakir Husain
HYDERABAD, May 7 (Bernama) -- A wave of violence has hit India's West Bengal state following the announcement of assembly election results this week.
The state's ruling party, All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which was defeated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said on Wednesday three of its workers were killed in violence over the past three days.
Meanwhile, Chandranath Rath, an aide to top state BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead by unidentified assailants at Madhyamgram near Kolkata city late on Wednesday.
Many incidents of arson and mob attacks across the state have been reported since the poll were announced on Monday.
The BJP achieved a landslide win against three-term chief minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress.
Banerjee has alleged her party lost "not by public mandate but by conspiracy" and has refused to step down as chief minister in a protest seen as symbolic.
She has accused the Election Commission of being unfair and intends to launch a court challenge to the poll outcome.
The BJP won 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, with the TMC getting 80.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway in Kolkata for the new BJP government's swearing-in on Saturday.
This is the first time the Hindu nationalist party will govern the state bordering Bangladesh.
West Bengal is India's fourth most populous state with a population of about 100 million.
-- BERNAMA
