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May 29, 2019

PM’s oath-taking ceremony should not be devalued by any political party: Mamata Banerjee

PM’s oath-taking ceremony should not be devalued by any political party: Mamata Banerjee

Bangla Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday tweeted to convey her anguish over “false” reports of ‘political murders’ of BJP workers in the state and asked Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi to excuse her from attending his swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi.

Mamata Banerjee said that BJP’s claim of 54 party workers being killed in “political violence” is untrue as she attributed the deaths to personal enmity, family quarrels, and other disputes. Rubbishing the reports, the chief minister said that there are no such records with her government, and therefore, due to BJP’s politics over the issue, she is compelled to pull-out of the event.

Here is her full statement:

Congratulations, new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi Ji. It was my plan to accept the ‘Constitutional invitation’ and attend the oath-taking ceremony. However, in the last one hour, I am seeing media reports that the BJP are claiming 54 people have been murdered in political violence in Bengal. This is completely untrue. There have been no political murders in Bengal. These deaths may have occurred due to personal enmity, family quarrels and other disputes; nothing related to politics. There is no such record with us.

So, I am sorry, Narendra Modi Ji, this has compelled me not to attend the ceremony.

The ceremony is an august occasion to celebrate democracy, not one that should be devalued by any political party which uses it as an opportunity to score political points. Please excuse me