Final touches are being given to the preparations for the swearing-in of West Bengal’s first woman chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the Raj Bhavan here tomorrow.
The swearing-in at a ceremony in the presence of 3,200 invitees drawn from among the top names in politics, business and art and culture will take place at 1:01 pm as per the wishes of the Trinamool supremo.
Ms. Banerjee, who will be the eleventh chief minister of the State, will be administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor M K Narayanan on the southwest lawn of the 208 - year old Raj Bhavan, where shamianas have been erected.
Mr. Narayanan has already appointed Banerjee as Chief Minister.
Ms. Banerjee will be head the first non-Left government to take charge of West Bengal 34 years after a nine-party Left Front government had come to power led by Jyoti Basu in 1977.
Trinamool Congress and allies Congress and SUCI stormed to power in the State with a three-fourths majority signalling the historic changeover in the State’s politics.
Congress, which secured 42 seats, is likely to join the Mamata Banerjee government.
The huge guest list includes outgoing chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who has been invited along with wife Meera by Deputy leader of the Trinamool Congress Legislature Party Partha Chatterjee who personally went to their Palm Avenue residence, the first visit by any Trinamool leader there since the party came into existence in 1998.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence minister A K Anthony are expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
Other invitees were Left Front chairman Biman Bose, political leaders, the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, judges, industrialists, administrative top brass, members of defence services, diplomats and MLAs.
The family members of Ms. Banerjee will also witness the swearing in.
Giant screens have been put up at the Shahid Minar grounds for the live telecast of the swearing-in ceremony.
After the swearing-in, the chief minister will have tea with the Governor and VVIPs and leave for Writers’ Buildings, the state secretariat in nearby BBD Bagh, to formally take charge.
Writers’ Buildings has been given a facelift and the chief minister’s secretariat remodelled.
Ms. Banerjee is likely to preside over her first cabinet meeting tomorrow presumably to announce the allocation of portfolios, officials said.
