Mamata Banerjee skips Modi’s swearing-in, rejects BJP claim on Bengal killings

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in Kolkata on Wednesday, May 29, that she would not attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony in Delhi on Thursday.

Why she pulled out

In a Twitter post, the Trinamool Congress chief said she had seen media reports within the past hour in which the BJP was claiming that 54 people had been killed in political violence in Bengal.

She called the claim completely untrue, saying there had been no political murders in the state and that her government had no record of any. That, she wrote, had left her with no choice but to stay away from the ceremony, and she apologised for it.

A bitter rivalry

Banerjee and Modi clashed fiercely before the Lok Sabha vote and traded attacks on several occasions during the campaign.

The BJP won 18 of Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats, sharply cutting the Trinamool Congress’s tally in the state it governs. The hostility between the two leaders shows little sign of easing.

What happened next

Modi was sworn in for his second term on 30 May 2019. In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election, the Trinamool Congress won 215 seats to the BJP’s 77, and Banerjee continued as Chief Minister.

See also: elections and BJP.

Originally published on 29 May 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us