The Modi-Mamata war escalated on Wednesday after the West Bengal Chief Minister made a U-turn and decided not to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister on May 30 in New Delhi.

Sources said Mamata’s decision follows the BJP’ inviting families/kin of party workers who had faced political violence in Bengal.

Bengal, along with Andhra Pradesh, is among the two States where violence and death were reported during the polling days. Sporadic incidents of post-poll violence continue in some parts of the State.

The issue of political violence has time and again featured in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s and BJP party President’s Amit Shah speeches.

Banerjee had, on Tuesday, said she plans to attend the event as a “Constitutional duty”. However, hours later, she put out a tweet alleging that the occasion was being “politicised” and “devalued”.

“The oath-taking ceremony is an august occasion to celebrate democracy, not the one which should be devalued by any political party,” she tweeted.

She refuted BJP’s claim of 54 deaths in Bengal due to political violence. She countered these reports as “untrue” and said there “have been no political murders in Bengal”.

The West Bengal Chief Minister also attributed these deaths to “enmity, family quarrels and so on”.

“In the last one hour, I am seeing media reports that the BJP is claiming 54 people have been murdered in political violence in Bengal. This is completely untrue. There have been no political murders in Bengal. There is no record with us. Sorry, this has compelled me not to attend the ceremony,” Banerjee tweeted. Sources say the 54 families will attend the swearing-in.

More MLAs defect

Meanwhile, the BJP continued to target Banerjee and draw TMC leaders and workers into its fold. The first phase of defections took place on Tuesday, and within 24 hours, a second set of defections was reported. Many disgruntled leaders also started raising their voices.

One MLA and three other leaders jumped ship today. TMC MLA Monirul Islam joined the BJP along with other leaders such as Mohammad Asif Iqbal, Gadhadhar Hazra and Nimai Das. Monirul Islam represents Labpur constituency in the Assembly.

The BJP projected the decision of muslim leaders to defect as a vindication of Modi’s Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas slogan.

The second phase comes just a day after two TMC MLAs and nearly 60 councillors joined the party. The switch over saw the BJP gain control of four municipalities in the North 24 Parganas district.

The BJP’s stellar show in Bengal during the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls saw the party win 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats. TMC won 22. Since then, the BJP has emerged as the principal opponent to the TMC and upped its political ante in the State.

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