Mamata Banerjee to take oath as Bengal CM tomorrow in a low-key ceremony, Dilip Ghosh and Sourav Ganguly on guest list

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee will take oath as Chief Minister of Bengal tomorrow, on May 5 at 10:45 am in Raj Bhawan in a low-key ceremony given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The oath will be administered to Mamata Banerjee by Protem speaker Subrata Mukherjee as he is the seniormost MLA. According to sources, only Mamata Banerjee's swearing-in ceremony will be held on Wednesday in a low key affair with all necessary COVID protocols.

Invitations for the programme have been sent to her predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, leader of Opposition of the outgoing House Abdul Mannan and CPI(M) veteran leader Biman Bose, the official told PTI. Chief ministers of other states and leaders of other political parties have not been invited for the programme keeping in mind the current COVID-19 situation in the country, he said.

"It has been decided to keep the oath-taking ceremony of Mamata Banerjee a very simple one because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Banerjee will be the only leader who will be taking oath tomorrow. The programme will be a very brief one," he said.

Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, poll strategist Prashant Kishor and party leader Firhad Hakim are likely to be present at the ceremony scheduled to be held at the Raj Bhavan at around 10.45 a m on May 5, TMC sources said. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has also been invited for the ceremony, the official said.

After the swearing-in ceremony, Mamata will be given a guard of honour by Kolkata Police at 'Nabanna' - the state secretariat. Thereafter, she will be chairing her first meeting as Chief Minister at Nabanna and it will be on the COVID crisis. The sources added that all other MLAs will be sworn in on May 6 and 7 maintaining all COVID protocols. 

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