Opposition leaders of Congress and CPM did not attend the swearing-in of Mamata Banerjee as chief minister on Friday. Trinamool Congress had extended invitations to senior leaders of all Opposition parties, but the latter decided to “boycott” the proceedings as a mark of “protest” against the recent incidents of post-poll violence reported from parts of the state. The Left-Congress alliance berated the new government for wasting crores of public money in holding the “ostentatious” swearing-in ceremony while their party workers were being attacked. “As Bengal bleeds & burns crores of public money is drained in d name of oath taking ceremony!How many crores of d people is wasted madam CM?,” CPM state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra tweeted. [related-post] In another tweet, he added: “CM takes oath amidst pomp&glory!!Her goons hurled bombs in d house of Haldias MLA Tapasi Mondal,a winner securing 50% plus votes! Democracy?.” Justifying the boycott, a CPM leader said: “This was a conscious decision taken in light of the post-poll attacks which have been absolutely relentless. Our offices have been vandalised. Our workers and supporters beaten up. Even if we were to attend the event as a matter of political protocol, how would we face our workers? We are accountable to them.” State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said Congress would have attended the oath-taking ceremony had there been no attacks on his party’s cadres. “Our decision to boycott was a mark of protest against the brazen attack on Opposition workers,” he said. Last week, the state BJP had announced that its leaders will boycott the swearing-in after its leader, actor-turned-politician Roopa Ganguly, was attacked in Kakdwip allegedly by a group of TMC workers. However, while local BJP leaders stayed away, the party was represented by Union Minister Arun Jaitley and Asansol MP Babul Supriyo at the ceremony. BJP national president Amit Shah said the party’s struggle against Mamata’s government will continue and the decision to send Jaitley should not be seen as a sign of reaching out to the TMC. “We are only respecting the people’s mandate. It does not mean we have quit our struggle. It will continue till we capture power in West Bengal,” he said. Meanwhile, thousands of people thronged the Red Road for the “people’s” swearing-in. Trinamool supporters sprayed green colour on each other and carried large posters of Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee. Huge 12-foot-tall cut-outs of the CM were placed along the road while large screens had been planted for people to watch the proceedings. But the proceedings could not be relayed due to a “technical glitch”, leaving the supporters disappointed. “What was the point of coming here? I walked so far in this heat. I might as well have stayed home and watched the ceremony on my television,” said 62-year-old Abdur Rehman who, like many others on Red Road, left soon after the “glitch” was reported. With PTI inputs
