Mamata Banerjee has to become a member of the legislative assembly within six months.
Highlights
She can do so by contesting bypolls to any seat left vacant
Often MLAs step aside to enable their leader to contest a safe seat
Kolkata:
Mamata Banerjee won Bengal on Sunday but lost her own election in Nandigram, where her former aide-turned-BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari defeated her by a narrow margin after several rounds of counting.
The two-time Chief Minister has won a third term but does her Nandigram loss mean she cannot become Chief Minister?
She can, under the constitution.
There are Chief Ministers who are not part of the legislative assemblies in their states. Bihar's Nitish Kumar has not contested an election for over three decades and was not in the November race either. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also did not contest the election.