Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee was sworn in as Chief Minister of West Bengal. She was the only one to take the oath of office, in view of a spike in Covid cases in the state:
With 213 seats, Trinamool has a brute majority in the Assembly.
Post swearing-in, Banerjee reiterated that “tackling Covid was a priority” and an emergency meeting in this regard has been called ay the state secretariat, Nabanna.
Referring to instances of post-poll political violence, the Chief Minister called them “sporadic incidents” and assured that “perpetrators will be dealt with sternly”.
“I appeal to all, including political parities, to exercise restraint. There have been some sporadic incidents of violence and we will deal with the perpetrators sternly,” she said.
Banerjee said the administrative set-up was previously under the Election Commission of India leading to many “inefficiencies” creeping in. “We will bring in a new administrative set up so that there are no inefficiencies,” she added.
Tweeting a congratulatory message the PM Narendra Modi said: “Congratulations to Mamata Didi on taking oath as West Bengal’s Chief Minister. @MamataOfficial”.
Meanwhile, the BJP carried out different dharnas across the state against the killing of its workers.
Number of deaths
Post poll violence has seen at least 14 deaths in the state - nine are BJP workers and the other five of the Trinamool.