Mamata sworn in as West Bengal CM

Amidst opposition boycott, Mamata Banerjee, who powered Trinamool Congress to a landslide victory in West Bengal assembly elections, was sworn in as Chief Minister of the state for the third consecutive term under the shadow of violence in several parts of the state post-poll results in which 14 people were reportedly killed.

All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) party leader Mamata Bannerjee takes formal oath as Chief Minister of West Bengal state at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata yesterday. Photo: AFP

Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar yesterday administered the oath of office and secrecy to 66-year-old Mamata at a low-key ceremony in the "Throne" room of the British colonial-era building Raj Bhavan, with Covid-19 protocols in place.

Apart from senior TMC leaders like its Secretary General Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Mukherjee, Mamata's poll strategist Prashant Kishor and her lawmaker-nephew Abhishek Banerjee were present at the swearing-in ceremony.

Leaders of opposition parties including BJP state President Dilip Ghosh, state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and the Left and the Congress did not attend the ceremony.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to congratulate Mamata on her oath-taking as Chief Minister. Mamata took the oath in Bangla to become the 21st Chief Minister of WB.

Mamata alone took oath yesterday and her cabinet will be expanded with the induction of other ministers on May 9, the birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, TMC sources said.