Mamata sworn in as WB CM

KOLKATA, May 27:
Mamata Banerjee was today sworn in as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the second consecutive time heading a 42-member Ministry with the Congress- Left combine and the State BJP boycotting the ceremony.
Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Ashok Gajapathi and Babul Supriyo, however, attended the ceremony, besides Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, UP CM Akhilesh Yadav and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal
Governor Kesri Nath Tripathi administered the oath of office and secrecy to 61-year-old Banerjee in Bengali at a function on the arterial Red Road here.
After leaving her Kalighat residence in south Kolkata, Banerjee, wearing her trademark white sari, walked some distance greeting people before boarding the car.
She single-handedly steered her party TMC to a spectacular victory winning 211 out of the 294 seats in the Assembly defeating the Congress-Left combine and BJP.
A host of political leaders including RJD chief Lalu Prasad, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and DMK’s Kanimozhi were present at the ceremony.
Leaders of Congress and the Left parties boycotted the swearing-in to protest against alleged post-poll violence by TMC.
State BJP leaders also stayed away from the ceremony alleging post-poll violence. Jaitley, however, said that the Central ministers attended the programme in the spirit of democracy.
The 42-member TMC Ministry has 29 Cabinet Ministers, including the Chief Minister, five Ministers of State with independent charge and eight Ministers of State.
Prominent Cabinet Ministers include Amit Mitra, Subrata Mukherjee, Partha Chatterjee, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Firhad Hakim and Sovan Chatterjee, who is also the Mayor of Kolkata.
Women Ministers include Sashi Panja, Asima Patra and Sandhyarani Tudu.
The new Ministry has 18 new faces.
After taking oath, Banerjee left for ‘Nabanna’, the State Secretariat where she was given a guard of honour by the police.
Flower petals were showered as she entered the Secretariat. “I consider myself as a commoner. My life is dedicated for the cause of the people,” she said.
On the occasion, leaders of some non-BJP and non-Congress parties suggested formation of a “federal front” at the Centre to challenge the BJP and said they might sit together to discuss such a possibility.
Mamata Banerjee supported the idea saying she would cooperate if such a front was formed by “like-minded parties”.
“It is necessary to defeat the BJP as the party and Sangh Parivar are out to divide the country. There is no ‘vikas’ (development) under the Modi Government.” Lau Prasad said,
He said all “secular and like-minded” parties would have to sit together and discuss the formation of a front against the BJP.
National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah said there was a possibility of formation of a federal front at the Centre.
“There are many like-minded parties and leaders and Mamata Banerjee is one of them,” he said, adding “it is a great day for democracy and for the secular fabric of the country”.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, however was non-committal, saying, “We have come here to greet her. It’s a great day for all of us and for democracy.” (PTI)

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