 "West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathy administers the oath of secrecy to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during swearing-in ceremony in Kolkata. PTI")
If for the last few days Red Road had remained out of bounds, on Friday, all roads led to it, as politicians, artistes, industrialists and 'manush' from the 3M (Ma Mati Manush) party turned up to see Mamata Banerjee being sworn for her a second term as Chief Minister of West Bengal.
Politicians across the party lines -- those looking for support in the Rajya Sabha and the ones angling for a potential partnership --- were all there; Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and RJD's Lalu Prasad found place on the dais. As did Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley and Union Minister of State for Urban Development, and for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Babul Supriyo.
The state units of major parties -- Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) -- stayed away from the event in protest against poll-violence in the state.
But nothing succeeds like success and Rahul Gandhi, vice-president of the Congress and one of the pillars of the pre-poll alliance with the CPI(M) took to Twitter to wish Banerjee. The office of Rahul Gandhi tweeted: "Congratulations to @MamataOfficial ji on being sworn in as Chief Minister. My best wishes to her and the Cabinet for the term ahead."
Congratulations to @MamataOfficial ji on being sworn in as Chief Minister.My best wishes to her & the Cabinet for the term ahead
— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) May 27, 2016
Among the other dignitaries on the dais were Bangladesh industry minister and Bhutan Prime Minister.
The swearing-in ceremony where Banerjee and 41 ministers took oath was kept brief. And Banerjee looked happy emerging from the well-attended event.
"So many national leaders have come for Bengal's historic moment. We will remember this," she said.
Asked about the possibility of a Federal Front, she said: "I am an LIP (less important person). I will help everybody. If anybody needs my help, I will help them." The comments come on the back of a recent interview to a national daily in which she said that her party would play a key role in national politics while ruling out an alliance with the BJP.
Trinamool National Spokesperson Derek O'Brien tweeted later, Crackling comment by @ArvindKejriwal when he @NitishKumar @MamataOfficial were clicked in same frame: "Let the picture speak".
Trinamool National Spokesperson Derek O'Brien tweeted later, Crackling comment by @ArvindKejriwal when he @NitishKumar @MamataOfficial were clicked in same frame: "Let the picture speak".
Farooq Abdullah and Lalu Prasad too did their bit in fuelling speculation about a Federal Front.
Abdullah said: "Every possibility is there. We will sit together and discuss what is best for the nation." On who would lead the alliance, the National Conference leader said: "There are several of them. Mamataji is one of them."
"BJP and Sangh Parivar are dividing the nation. Like-minded parties will sit together and discuss how to overthrow them," said Lalu Prasad.
Banerjee headed straight for Nabanna, the state secretariat, after the ceremony.
Responding to queries on the Federal Front, she said, today's event was like a political get-together.
The chief minister also announced the agenda of her government for the next five years.
In contrast to the first Cabinet meeting in her last term, Banerjee said: "Our focus will be the young generation for the next five years and creating employment opportunities."
In 2011, the first decision of the West Bengal cabinet under Banerjee was to return the 400 acres of land within the Tata Motors' abandoned Singur plant to unwilling farmers.
In 2011, the first decision of the West Bengal cabinet under Banerjee was to return the 400 acres of land within the Tata Motors' abandoned Singur plant to unwilling farmers.
