Mamata To Skip PM Swearing-In After Special Invite To Families Of ‘Killed’ BJP Workers

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has changed her mind about attending Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony after the families of over 50 BJP workers, allegedly killed in political violence in Bengal, were invited to the same ceremony.

The families have been designated as “special invitees” to the grand event on Thursday and will stay in Delhi in the care of the BJP, sources said.

She congratulated the Prime Minister and said it was her plan to accept the “Constitutional invitation” to attend the oath-taking ceremony. But, she went on to say, the oath-taking was an august occasion to celebrate democracy, “not one that should be devalued by any political party” and “this has compelled me not to attend the ceremony.

NDTV reports that the decision to invite the families was taken at a marathon five-hour meeting between Modi and BJP president Amit Shah at the Prime Minister’s home in Delhi on Tuesday night. “A list of special invitees is ready and will soon be given to the Rashtrapati Bhavan,” sources said.

Party leaders said the BJP workers were allegedly killed during panchayat or local body poll violence over the past six years and the national elections. That they have been given special place among 7,000 invitees to Modi’s second inauguration is seen as a big message ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls in Bengal.