Mamata Takes Oath As Bengal CM for 3rd Consecutive Time

Mamata Banerjee has sworn in today as Bengal Chief Minister for the third consecutive time.

The oath ceremony took place with Covid protocols in place at the "Throne Room" at the Raj Bhavan, reports NDTV.

The rest of the cabinet and the council of ministers will be sworn in on May 9, the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

The CM's predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, leader of Opposition of the outgoing House Abdul Mannan and CPI(M) veteran leader Biman Bose are among the few leaders who have been invited to the ceremony, the official added.

Chief ministers of other states and leaders of other political parties have not been invited for the ceremony in view of the current Covid-19 situation in the country. While the infection tally in India has breached the 20-million mark, West Bengal has recorded 8,98,533 infections till date. The state on Tuesday reported its highest single-day deaths of 107 Covid-19 patients, taking the toll to 11,744, the health department said in a bulletin.

"It has been decided to keep the oath-taking ceremony of Mamata Banerjee a very simple one because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Banerjee will be the only leader who will be taking oath tomorrow. The programme will be a very brief one," the official quoted above told PTI.

After eight rounds of polling in the state, the votes were counted and results announced on May 2. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had set a target of winning more than 200 seats out of the 294-member assembly, won 77 seats while the TMC won 213 seats.