After initially agreeing to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that she will not attend the oath-taking ceremony on Thursday after the BJP sent invites to the families of its workers killed in the state.
"I am seeing media reports that the BJP are claiming 54 people have been murdered in political violence in Bengal. This is completely untrue," Mamata said, in a letter which she shared on Twitter.
"The oath-taking ceremony is an august occasion to celebrate democracy, not one that should be devalued by any political party," Mamata added.
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The just-concluded Lok Sabha polls witnessed a heated verbal duel between Modi and Banerjee who spearheaded the campaigns of their parties in West Bengal.
Besides winning 303 Lok Sabha seats on his own (the NDA tally being 352), the BJP came up with a surprising poll show in West Bengal by bagging 18 of the state's 42 seats, only four less than the TMC's 22.
The saffron party leapt from two seats in the state in 2014 to 18, while the TMC slid to 22 from 34.
