Swearing off?

West Bengal’s first woman Chief Minister-elect Mamata Banerjee flew down to Delhi for a day to specially invite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi to her swearing-in ceremony on May 20. But she didn’t get a positive reply from either, though both wished her success and pledged all kinds of support to the new government. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cited pre-planned engagements in Delhi that include the visit of Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov as an excuse and Gandhi was non-committal. Congress leaders later explained that Gandhi, as a matter of principle, never attends chief ministerial swearing-in ceremonies.