Mumbai | Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday backed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's decision not to quit after her defeat in the assembly polls, calling it a part of her protest against the Centre and the Election Commission of India.

Talking to reporters, Raut asserted that it is necessary to unite against the "dictatorship of the Centre and partisan behaviour of the Election Commission". He said the poll body has become "slaves" of the Centre.

The Opposition has to decide whether it has to contest the polls or not, he said.

"Mamata Banerjee is not resigning is part of her agitation against the government (Centre), the Election Commission (EC) and a series of acts against democracy," Raut said.

It has to be seen what direction the agitation takes, he added.

Alleging that the West Bengal assembly poll verdict was "not a people's mandate but a conspiracy", Banerjee on Tuesday refused to resign as chief minister.

The BJP sealed a landslide victory with 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, ending the TMC's uninterrupted 15-year rule. Banerjee dismissed the outcome as "engineered" and asserted that her party was fighting the Election Commission, not the BJP. The TMC could only manage 80 seats.

In a post on Facebook, Raut said Banerjee's decision not to quit is fully justified. He also sought to draw a parallel with the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis.

The then Chief Justice of India had observed during hearings on petitions seeking the disqualification of rebel MLAs of the undivided Shiv Sena that Uddhav Thackeray, who headed the party at the time, could have been reinstated as chief minister had he not resigned.

The Rajya Sabha MP said Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had called up Banerjee after the polls and extended support. Almost all INDIA bloc leaders have called Banerjee and extended their support to her.

"We have to come together if we have to unite against the dictatorship of the Centre and the partisan behaviour of the EC or the way the poll body has become slaves of the government," Raut said.

He claimed that even many in the government do not agree with the "degradation of democracy".