Mamata Banerjee takes oath as CM of West Bengal for third straight term

After the ceremony, she said that her first priority will be tackling the Covid-19 situation in West Bengal

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday took oath as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for a third consecutive term. Mamata, who became the 21st Chief Minister of the state, was administered the oath of office by West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at the Raj Bhavan in a sombre and brief ceremony at Raj Bhavan.

A limited number of people were invited to the oath-taking ceremony due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Among the invitees were her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, senior Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya, senior TMC leaders Firhad Hakim and Partha Chatterjee. However, despite being invited, state BJP President Dilip Ghosh did not attend the ceremony in protest against the alleged violence against BJP workers after the Assembly elections. The BJP held protests across the state against alleged post-poll violence by the TMC cadre.

Incidentally, even when she had taken oath as the Chief Minister for the first time in 2011, Mamata wasn't an MLA and was later elected during a bye-election to the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in Kolkata. This time around, she lost the Nandigram seat to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari. The TMC, however, has announced that it will move the court in this regard.

Speaking to reporters after taking the oath, the Chief Minister said that her first priority will be tackling the Covid-19 situation in West Bengal. She also said that those instigating violence in Bengal will be dealt with sternly as per law.

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“I urge everyone to maintain peace in Bengal. For about the last three months the State administration was not in my hands. So there might have been some inefficiency. I will address those issues right after reaching the State Secretariat. As for those resorting to violence, I will deal with them sternly as per law,” said the Chief Minister.

Mamata said that she will handle the law and order situation in the state and make a new set-up for the administration. Later in the day, she announced several reshuffles in the state police, including reinstating former Director-General Virendra.

Addressing the Chief Minister as “my younger sister”, the Governor said that he had informed her about the ongoing violence in Bengal and she had taken steps.

“Our top priority is to end the senseless and horrendous violence in the state. Post-poll violence is antithetical to democracy...On occasions when a state faces crisis, we have to rise above partisan interests,” said Dhankhar.