Mamata Banerjee takes oath as Bengal CM, says violence will be tackled firmly

Soon after taking oath as the chief minister of West Bengal for the third consecutive term, Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged all the political parties to ensure peace prevails in the state. Banerjee’s reaction came following the killing of at least 14 people in the post-poll violence in Bengal.

Banerjee, who was sworn in at 10.45 this morning, said, “My first priority is to control covid. I am now going to Nabanna (state administration headquarter). There I will hold a meeting with my officers. and will take necessary measures to control covid immediately. I will address media again this evening.”

“There is some sporadic violence after the election. We have to control that with a strong hand. In the last two months, the administration system was run by the Election Commission. There was some inefficiency. We have to change the whole setup immediately,” she further added.

Mamata Banerjee at Raj Bhavan

Minutes after the oath-taking ceremony, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar also sent out a sharp message to her on the post-poll violence in Bengal. “In our constitution, the law has the highest position and we should maintain that. We should immediately take necessary action and send relief to the victims’ families. I have every hope that the Chief Minister on an urgent basis will take all the steps to restore the rule of law,” Dhankhar said with Banerjee by his side.

The oath was administered at a low-key ceremony at Raj Bhawan held amid the raging COVID pandemic. Left Front and BJP boycotted the ceremony. Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury also gave the program a miss but Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya was present at the ceremony.

Apart from senior TMC leaders like Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Mukherjee, poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who played a key role in TMC’s victory, and Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee were also present.

Banerjee, who lost from Nandigram despite the astounding TMC victory, but will have to get elected to the assembly within six months of assuming office.