Reacting sharply on poll results and saffron surge in the northeast states, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at Congress party and blamed Congress president Rahul Gandhi for the loss. Mamata Banerjee has claimed that she had personally approached Rahul Gandhi asking him for a pre-poll alliance with the hill parties and TMC but the Congress president Rahul Gandhi refused. Questioning Rahul Gandhi's leadership, West Bengal chief minister wondered why the CPI-M "surrendered" before the Bharatiya Janata Party.