West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee meets with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi. File photo | Photo Credit: ANI
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamta Banerjee will not attend it Swearing-in ceremony of Congress leader Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister of Karnataka A Trinamool Congress leader said party leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has been nominated for the programme.
Ms Banerjee had received an invitation from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to attend the event in Bengaluru on May 20.
“Karnataka Chief Minister-designate Shri Siddaramaiah and his other colleagues called to personally invite @AITCofficialChairperson and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the swearing-in tomorrow,” tweeted Rajya Sabha party leader Derek O’Brien.
The TMC chief’s presence at Siddaramaiah’s swearing-in event is considered important for opposition unity, especially after his recent statement that his party will support the Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls where it is strong.
“Wherever the Congress is strong, let them fight. We will support them, there is nothing wrong in that. But they will have to support other political parties as well,” he said. Ms. Banerjee recently said,
His statement came soon after the Congress won an emphatic victory over the BJP in the southern state.
In the elections held on 10 May for the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, the Congress won 135 seats, while the ruling BJP won 66.