KOLKATA — After winning a historic 207 assembly seats and ending a 15-year political dynasty largely by campaigning on a platform of women's empowerment, party leadership confirmed Tuesday that their mandate would be best fulfilled by a male Chief Minister.

To address any public confusion regarding the strategy, the party dispatched its most prominent female face—a state unit vice-president currently navigating 23 pending criminal cases—to defend the selection to the press. She assured reporters that the decision to bypass obvious female choices was entirely based on her male colleague's "experience."

"While our campaign rhetoric focused extensively on elevating female leaders to appeal to the record number of women who turned out to vote, the reality of governance requires a man who has defeated a woman," an official spokesperson stated. The spokesperson clarified that the male frontrunner's track record of unseating the former female incumbent made him uniquely qualified to champion women's causes from the executive office.

"We are thrilled to maintain a woman in a senior supportive role, where she is fully empowered to tirelessly defend the Chief Minister's decisions to the media," the official added, noting that her 23 pending legal cases were not a barrier to this vital communications work. "This is exactly the structural change our voters demanded."