Mamata Banerjee sworn-in as West Bengal CM for 3rd time amid protests over post-poll violence

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee was on Wednesday sworn-in as the chief minister of West Bengal for the third consecutive term after a massive win in the state assembly elections.

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee was on Wednesday sworn-in as the chief minister of West Bengal for the third consecutive term days after her party's massive win in the state assembly election 2021.

Mamata Banerjee's swearing-in ceremony took place amid strong protest by the main opposition party BJP over the post-poll violence across the state in which several people have lost their lives.  

Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar administered her the oath of office and secrecy at a low-key ceremony at Raj Bhawan held amid the raging COVID pandemic.

Banerjee took the oath in the Bengali language. The rest of the cabinet and the council of ministers will be sworn in on May 9, the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

The oath ceremony took place with Covid protocols in place at the "Throne Room" at the Raj Bhavan.

Apart from senior TMC leaders like Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Mukherjee, poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who played a key role in TMC's victory, and Banerjee's MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee were present.

Banerjee has said her first priority after resuming office will be to tackle the COVID-19 situation. 

"For the last three months, the state was under the Election Commission and I did not have much say. There was a lot of inefficiency in the state system during this time. I will set up a new police system today itself and tackle the violence with the utmost firmness," Mamata Banerjee said after taking the oath of the office.

After taking the oath, Banerjee will go to the state secretariat 'Nabanna' where she will be given 'guard of honour' by Kolkata Police.

Mamata Banerjee won a landslide victory in the Bengal election to secure a third straight term. The Trinamool won 213 of 292 seats while its strongest rival, BJP, finished second with 77 seats.

She is expected to start her new term with a meeting with top officials on the Covid situation and law and order in the state.