A sea of humanity, including industrialists, artistes, litterateurs and the who’s who of Kolkata, cheered as the first female chief minister of the state, Mamata Banerjee, was sworn in today.
Amid the pomp and celebrations, the way West Bengal greeted their new chief minister was a true reflection of the overwhelming majority she got in the recently-concluded assembly elections on the plank of industrialisation and “Ma, Mati, Manush” unseating a 34-year-old Left Front government.
From RPG Enterprises Vice Chairman Sanjiv Goenka and Titagarh Wagons Managing Director Umesh Chowdhary to venture capitalist Purnendu Chatterjee who co-founded Bengal’s showpiece project Haldia Petrochemicals, were present at the swearing in ceremony. Not to be left behind was NRI industrialist and Left Front’s former poster boy, Prasoon Mukherjee — the man responsible for brining the Indonesia-based Salim group to Bengal.
However, in spite of a personal invitation to Tata group Chairman Ratan Tata, representatives of the group – Tata Sons director R Gopalakrishnan, Tata Steel Vice Chairman B Muthuraman and Tata Motors Vice Chairman Ravi Kant – were not present. The sole representative was Tata Steel Processing and Distribution Managing Director Sandipan Chakravortty.
Infosys chairman emeritus N R Narayana Murthy and Wipro chairman Azim Premji were also invited, but could not attend the event.
Expectations from Banerjee were running high. Duncan group chairman G P Goenka said: “She is making all the rights moves, I’m sure she will do well.”
Chakravortty echoed similar views saying he believed Banerjee was not averse to the Tata group investing in Bengal. “Nano has already moved to Sanand, but Mr Tata may come up with another project. However, there he will have to decide, but there are many legal issues. But I don’t think she (Banerjee) is averse to the Tatas.”
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Union Home minister P Chidambaram, former CM Bhattacharjee, Left Front Chiarman Biman Bose, former state finance minister Asim Dasgupta and Assembly speaker H A Halim also attended the ceremony.
Her ministry of 37 MLAs was also sworn in, including two Congress ministers. Four Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs were sworn in as ministers of state. Notable among those who took the oath were deputy leader Partha Chatterjee, former secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) Amit Mitra and Manish Gupta, the man who defeated former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. From the Congress, Manas Bhuniya and Abu Hena took the oath of office.
After the state government’s first cabinet meeting at the Writers’ Buildings later in the day, Banerjee said Amit Mitra will get the finance portfolio, while close aide Partha Chatteerjee will be responsible for commerce, industries and parliamentary affairs. Portfolios of other cabinet ministers and ministers of state would be announced soon.
“I will keep some departments with me,” Banerjee said without disclosing the ones she would keep. She had, however, told reporters a few days ago that she would like to hold the home, health and education departments.
| DAY 1 ANNOUNCEMENTS |
| Singur: The first decision of the West Bengal Cabinet under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was to return the 400 acres of land within the Tata Motors’ abandoned Singur plant to unwilling farmers and make public the agreement between the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government and the Tatas. |
| Jangalmahal: Banerjee announced a development package for Maoist-infested Jangalmahal. “I want the area to have schools, hospitals and industry. The fact that people have come out and voted is proof of their commitment to peace and democracy.” |
| Law & Order: The CM said all illegal arms will be confiscated by the administration. “The administration will deal urgently to restore peace and democracy. Weapons currently in circulation are fit for a war.” |
| Political prisoners: The new government will form a 10-member expert review committee to assess the cases of political prisoners and review the decision to release them on merit. |
| Darjeeling: Reiterating her pre-poll promise, Banerjee said the Darjeeling-Gorkhaland issue will be resolved in three months through negotiations. “Tripartite talks will be soon be held between the central and state governments and the aggrieved parties. A small secretariat will be set up specifically for North Bengal.” |
| Implementation of Sachar Committee Report: The chief minister said the state cabinet will implement the Sachar report on Muslim welfare and invited ex-Justice Rajinder Sachar to look into the matter personally. |
| Tie-up with centre for disaster management: The government will coordinate with the Centre to set up control rooms and flood warning systems with the help of the central disaster management teams. |
| BPL & NREGS Cards: Banerjee announced the formation of a committee to identify BPL families and ensure 100 days of work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. |
