West Bengal Advocate General (AG) Kishore Datta tendered his resignation Tuesday, a day after the BJP secured a historic majority in the Assembly polls. Sources said Datta sent his resignation letter to Governor R N Ravi, marking the beginning of an administrative overhaul as part of the change in power in the state.

While there is no requirement for the AG to step down during a regime change, it is customary for a state’s top legal officer to resign when a new government is elected. The new administration typically implements its own policies, and the AG is expected to align with these changes.

Datta’s departure follows a relatively brief second stint in the role. He was appointed in December 2023, succeeding Soumendranath Mukhopadhyay, who had resigned just a month prior.

Datta first took charge as the Bengal AG in February 2017. In September 2021, following the previous Assembly election, he submitted his resignation to then-Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, citing personal reasons. He was widely recognised for representing the state in high-profile cases, including post-poll violence litigation and the Narada sting operation case.

The process of appointing the new AG will begin once the BJP-led Cabinet is sworn in. The state government will recommend a name to the Governor, who will formally order the appointment under Article 165 of the Constitution.

In the West Bengal Assembly polls, the BJP secured a landslide victory, winning 206 seats and crossing the majority mark for the first time in the state’s history. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was reduced to just 81 seats, while the Left Front and the Congress secured only two seats each.

The state government recommends a name for the post of Advocate General to the Raj Bhavan, after which the Governor, as the constitutional head of the state, formally appoints the candidate.

Meanwhile, in a defiant stance, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee questioned why she should resign and insisted that her party had not been “defeated” in the elections.

“We have not been defeated. I will not resign…” Banerjee said at a press conference, accompanied by party leaders Derek O’Brien and Abhishek Banerjee.