Mamata Banerjee takes oath as Bhabanipur MP

Mamata Banerjee takes oath as Bhabanipur MP

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken oath as an MLA of the state assembly along with Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders Amirul Islam and Jakir Hossain.

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar administered the swearing-in programme on Thursday.

The by-elections to three constituencies in the state had taken place on September 30. The counting took place on Sunday.

In a do-or-die situation, Banerjee won the by-election to in Kolkata’s Bhabanipur constituency. She defeated Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate Priyanka Tibrewal by a record margin of 58,835 votes.

The TMC chief had to win it to retain the post of chief minister.

In Jangipur, Hossain won against BJP’s Sujit Das by a margin of 92,480 votes. Islam won against Congress’ Zaidur Rahaman by a margin of 26,379 votes in Samserganj.

Banerjee had to win the bye-poll to get elected as an MLA so that she could continue as the chief minister of the state.

In the West Bengal Assembly elections held earlier this year, Banerjee had lost the Nandigram constituency to her former aide Suvendu Adhikari, who had defected to the BJP before the polls. However, the Trinamool Congress won a clear majority in the elections and Banerjee took oath as the chief minister for a third consecutive term.

As per provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1951, she needed to get elected as an MLA within six months of taking oath.

West Bengal had witnessed several incidents of post-poll violence involving supporters of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress following the Assembly election results on May 2. Various news reports put the toll between 11 and 14, but the police did not confirm the numbers.

In August, the Calcutta High Court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to inquire into allegations of murder, rape and crimes against women in connection with the violence.