After saying yes, Mamata refuses to attend Modi's swearing-in ceremony
What's the story
On Tuesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee showed she is capable of letting bygones be bygones when she agreed to attend Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony. But on Wednesday, she took a U-turn and put out a statement saying she won't be able to make it. The reason? Mamata claimed BJP's rumors about "political killings" in Bengal drove her decision. Here's what happened.
Statement
BJP's claims of political violence untrue, said Mamata
Mamata started her statement by writing that she wanted to accept the "constitutional invitation". But in "last one hour", she saw media reports in which BJP claimed that 54 people were murdered in political violence in her state. "This is completely untrue. There have been no political murders in Bengal," she wrote and added people may have died due to other reasons.
Quote
Ceremony can't be used to score political points: Mamata
"The ceremony is an august occasion to celebrate democracy, not one that should be devalued by any political party that uses it as an opportunity to score political points. Please excuse me," she added.
Twitter Post
Here is her full statement
The oath-taking ceremony is an august occasion to celebrate democracy, not one that should be devalued by any political party pic.twitter.com/Mznq0xN11Q
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 29, 2019
Invitations
Apparently, Modi invited families of murdered BJP workers
Mamata's RSVP comes after reports suggested that Modi has invited families of BJP workers, who died in the violence, for the ceremony. Notably, Bengal voted under a shadow of violence in all seven phases of elections. Trinamool and BJP workers clashed despite heavy deployment of central forces. However, the results made BJP happy as the party increased its tally from 2 to 18.
Joining
Ditching "non-democratic" Trinamool, several members joined BJP
Further, the Trinamool chief is facing a lot of problems these days. After a poor performance in polls (the party won just 22 seats in West Bengal), several Trinamool members chose BJP. On Tuesday, two Trinamool MLAs and over 50 councilors from various districts of the state joined the saffron party. Most of the turncoats claimed there was no democracy in Trinamool.