Mamata Banerjee to Skip Narendra Modi's Swearing-in, Will Send Party Leaders Amit Mitra, Mukul Roy

Kolkata: Ending the suspense, West Bengal Chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has decided to send state Finance Minister Amit Mitra and party general secretary Mukul Roy to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister on May 26.

"A letter from PM-designate Narendra Modi to the chief minister inviting her to attend the swearing-in reached the state secretariat today. Amit Mitra and Mukul Roy will attend the swearing-in on behalf of the chief minister since she has a pre-scheduled programme on that day to celebrate poet Kazi Nazrul Islam's birth anniversary", Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim told reporters.

In his letter to Ms Banerjee, Mr Modi wrote the "people of India have given me an opportunity to serve the country as Prime Minister. The swearing-in ceremony has been organised at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on May 26 at 6 PM."

"I am writing this to cordially invite you to the swearing-in ceremony. This is also an occasion for me to seek your blessings and good wishes. I will be grateful for early confirmation so that necessary arrangements can be made," Mr Modi said in his letter.

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Ms Banerjee, whose party won 34 seats in the Lok Sabha, had a vitriolic war of words with Mr Modi on the issue of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in the recent Lok Sabha election campaign.