Mamata to be sworn in as West Bengal CM

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Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee will be sworn-in as West Bengal Chief Minister today.

Governor M.K. Narayanan will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Banerjee and new Council of Ministers at Raj Bhavan at 1:01 p.m.

Besides Banerjee, 42 Ministers will take oath at a glittering function at Raj Bhavan.

Out of total ministers, 35 will be from Trinamool Congress and remaining seven from Congress.

Over three thousand two hundred guests including outgoing Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Chief of Tata Group Rattan Tata, family members of Shingur and Nandigram movement victims have been invited to witness the star studded swearing-in ceremony.

Union Ministers P. Chidambaram, A. K. Anthony and Pranab Mukherjee will also be present during the swearing-in ceremony.

Giant screens have been set up at various locations in Kolkata for live telecast of the ceremony for commoner to have the glimpse of the event.

The guests have been divided into three segments and their entry routes to Raj Bhawan defined accordingly.

Along with Banerjee, Union ministers, the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court and a few relatives of Mamata will be allowed through the south- west gate.

Two assistant commissioner-ranked officers will supervise security arrangements at every gate.

The Trinamool Congress on Monday formally staked the claim to form the next government in West Bengal shortly after Banerjee was unanimously elected Leader of the Trinamool Congress Legislature Party (TCLP).

The TMC-Congress combine had won 227 seats out of 294 in the legislative assembly, while the ruling Left Front, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), only garnered 62 seats.

The TMC is the biggest coalition ally of Congress and holds the balance of power in Parliament. Analysis feel that her victory may force the government to be more dependent on an unpredictable parliamentary partner opposed to several key economic reforms.