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Mamata Banerjee sworn in as West Bengal CM once again, 41 ministers take oath

By FnF Correspondent | PUBLISHED: 27, May 2016, 14:05 pm IST | UPDATED: 28, May 2016, 12:54 pm IST

Mamata Banerjee sworn in as West Bengal CM once again, 41 ministers take oath Kolkata: rinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee was on Friday sworn in for a second consecutive term as West Bengal chief minister at a grand public ceremony witnessed by thousands of supporters as well as eminent personalities.

Attired in a simple white sari and white stole, Banerjee was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi in a ceremony held at the city’s historic Indira Gandhi Sarani (Red Road), a wide boulevard that bisects the Maidan.

Banerjee, the state’s eighth chief minister and the first woman to occupy the post, took her oath in Bengali, and in the name of “Ishwar and Allah”.

She dedicated the event to “Ma, Mati, Manush” (Mother, land and people”, Banerjee’s pet slogan.

Along with the chief minister, 41 other ministers were also sworn in. The ministerial council has 18 fresh faces, including former Indian cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla, city mayor Sovan Chatterjee, noted Bengali singer Indranil Sen, veteran Trinamool leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, and Marxist-turned Trinamool lawmaker Abdur Rezzak Mollah.

Twenty-eight of the ministers were of cabinet rank, five ministers of state (independent charge) and eight ministers of state.

Chatterjee, Chattopadhyay and Mollah got cabinet berths, while Shukla and Sen were made ministers of state.

Three of the ministers are women, seven belong to the Muslim community, while the Scheduled Caste and tribe communities also got several representatives.

Amit Mitra, Partha Chatterjee, Subrata Mukherjee, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay and Joardar were the first group of ministers to be administered the oath by the governor after the chief minister. The other ministers were then sworn in in batches. A number of them were seen touching Banerjee’s feet after taking oath.

All the ministers took their oath in Bengali, except Golam Rabbani, who preferred Hindi.

Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay was among the guests who graced the occasion as well as Bangladesh Industry Minister Amir Hossain Amu. Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Babul Supriyo were present as well as chief ministers — Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi, Akhilesh Yadav of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar’s Nitish Kumar. Former chief ministers — Jammu and Kashmir’s Farooq Abdullah and Bihar’s Lalu Prasad were also present.

Ex Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, leading figures from the Bengali film industry, frontline industrialists of the state, members of the diplomatic corps also attended the function.

Thousands of people braving the intense heat assembled under the open sky to watch Didi (elder sister – as Banerjee is fondly called) begin her second innings at the helm of the eastern state.

The state’s opposition Left Front and state units of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) boycotted the function in protest against the attack on their activists, allegedly by ruling Trinamool Congress, during the polls.

Banerjee had taken over as chief minister for the first time on May 20, 2011 when she led an alliance of Trinamool Congress, Congress and Socialist Unity Centre of India- Communist to a huge win in the state assembly polls, ending 34 years of Left Front rule.

In the recent assembly elections, Banerjee led the Trinamool to a landslide, with the party winning 211 seats – well above the two-thirds majority mark of 196 – to retain power. The Congress-Left Front alliance won 77 seats in the 294-member house. The BJP and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha got three seats each.

On Thursday, her Tamil Nadu counterpart Jayalalithaa extended her wishes to Ms. Banerjee.

Live updates:

1:19 pm: We end the live updates with the complete list of council of ministers that can be accessed here.

1:12 pm: Over 30,000 guests attended the event.

1:10 pm: Most of roads reaching central areas of the city were diverted resulting in traffic chaos as the cabinet is took oath in the main arterial road connecting south to central Kolkata.

1:09 pm: The ceremony ends with the National Anthem

1:07 pm: Lakhiratan Shukla, Zakir Hossin, Indranil Sen Shyamal Santra take oath as Ministers of State.

1:06 pm: Ashish Bandhopadhyay, James Kujur, Tapan Dasgupta take oath

1:02 pm: Next batch to take oath are the ministers of state (Independent Charge). They are Swapan Debnath, Sashi Panja, Siddikulaah Chowdhury and Ashima Patra

12:57 pm: Chandranath Singh, Soumen Mahapatra, Rajeeb Bandhopadhyay, Churamani Mahato and Malay Ghatak take oath.

12:55 pm: Purnendhu Basu, Rabindranath Ghosh, Arup Roy Shantiram Mahato, and Bratya Basu take oath

12:52 pm: Ministers Abdur Rezzak Molla, Suvendu Adhikari, Sadhan Pandey and Jyotipriya Malkik take oath.

12:50 pm: Ministers Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas, Javed Khan, Sovan Chatterjee and Gouam Deb take oath.

12:48 pm: Just like Tamil Nadu, ministers take oath in batches. First to take are: Amit Mitra, Partha Chatterjee, Abani Jowardar, and Sovandeb Chatterjee.

12:47 pm: Her council of ministers include five Minister of States (Independent Charge) and 8 MoS.

12:44 pm: The Governor administers the oath of screcy to Ms. Banerjee

12:43 pm: 'Ame Mamata Banerjee' Ms. Banerjee takes oath as the chief minister in the name of 'Iswar aur Allah'

12:40 pm: Governor K.N. Tripathi has arrived. National anthem is being played.

12:38 pm: Ms. Banerjee has arrived at the venue.

12:35 pm: RJD chief Lalu Prasad is also present. Interesting to see non-BJP, non-Congress chief ministers attending the function.

12:33 pm: Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, a personal friend of Ms. Banerjee is also attending the ceremony.

12:30 pm: Since Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheik Hasina is touring Japan, the nations Industries Minister is attending the ceremony on her behalf.

12:26 pm: Former skipper Saurav Ganguly has also reached the venue.

12:25 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have arrived at the venue.

12:20 pm: Ms. Banerjee's cabinet will have 17 new faces.

12:13 pm: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has set out from her house at Kalighat in South Kolkata towards Red Road.

12:01 pm: Though union ministers will be attending the ceremony, the State BJP has decided to boycott it, after Roopa Ganguly was attacked.

11:55 am: Ms. Banerjee had extended invitation to her Tamil Nadu counterpart too. Ms. Jayalalithaa sent her best wishes instead.

11:53 am: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are expected to attend the ceremony.

11:51 am: Elaborate security arrangements have been made at the venue. Drones are being used for surveillance.

11:50 am: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her council of 41 ministers will be sworn in from Red Road shortly.
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