8 years on from her own historic swearing-in as West Bengal's CM, here's why Mamata Banerjee's 'august ceremony devalued' reason for skipping PM Modi's oath-taking smacks of double-standards

Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday declined the invitation to attend PM Narendra Modi's oath-taking ceremony.

PM Narendra Modi's party, the BJP, had managed to make deep inroads into the Trinamool territory in West Bengal by winning 18 Lok Sabha seats out of 42. The TMC's victory was reduced from 34 in 2014 to 22 in 2019.

In a statement that she posted on Twitter, Banerjee said that the BJP by claiming in the media that 54 workers had died in poilitical violence in the state, had devalued 'an august ceremony'. She also said that the deaths of the people was caused by reasons other than political violence.

Congratulating PM Modi on his second term, Banerjee said that she had planned to accept the 'Constitutional Invitation' but owing to the media reports she would not attend the ceremony.

The BJP had invited and arranged for 54 families of victims who belonged to the party of political violence in West Bengal to PM Narendra Modi's swearing-in as the chief minister. It has accused the state's ruling Trinamool of unleashing violence on its workers in elections, alleging that at least 80 of them have died in political violence. The TMC has denied the charge.

READ | 54 Families Of BJP Workers Killed In Political Violence In West Bengal Invited To PM Narendra Modi's Swearing-in. Here's What They Have To Say

However, a glimpse at the past reveals that Banerjee had herself invited victims of violence in Singur and Nandigram during her oath-taking in 2011.

As per reports, among the 3,000 people in her ceremony were kin of victims of violence of Nandigram and Singur. She had blamed the outgoing Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for the violence but he attended Banerjee’s oath-taking along with Left Front chairman Biman Bose

Thus, her statement that BJP's move to invite the families of its party workers who were slained in the violence as 'devaluing an august ceremony' reeks of hypocrisy. 

Mamata Banerjee To Skip PM Modi's Swearing In, Writes "I Am Sorry, Narendra Modi Ji, This Has Compelled Me To Not Attend The Ceremony" Over Reports On Political Violence Deaths. Read Statement