After the Lok Sabha poll debacle in Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday offered to step down from her post but said that her party insisted she should continue.
Banerjee made the claims during a press conference held after conducting a review meeting with Trinamool Congress functionaries.
She also added that the "central forces worked against" her party. "An emergency situation was created. Hindu-Muslim division was done and votes were divided. We complained to the EC but nothing was looked into," she said.
The state witnessed a massive saffron surge as the BJP inflicted a body blow to Trinamool Congress by winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, up from just two in 2014.
TMC has won 22 seats down from 34 in 2014. The saffron party also gave the TMC a run for its money bagging 40.25 per cent of the vote share counted so far compared to 43.28 per cent clinched by TMC.